Breaking Barriers
by lizwuzthere
Summary: Primeverse, AU timeline after Toxicity, Sequel to Opportunity Knocks; Now that Knockout is being hunted by the Decepticons, the safest place for him is at the Autobot base. Miko, however, is none too pleased by his presence... not that it's going to last long- because whatever weird setup he has with the Autobots is about to be ruined when Breakdown shows up again!
1. Chapter 1

**This story is a sequel to my previous work, _Opportunity Knocks_  
**

**You may find this one reads a little bit less like an episode due to it being a bit less dialogue and action driven (at least this chapter) Writing Knockout at the base and still trying to keep him in character was a bit of a challenge, and that was sort of the side-effect.**  
**Oh, and y'know how the relic hunt was an important plot…? Yeaaaah I hate that plot. I will be ignoring it entirely for the rest of my fanfictions. So don't be confused that it's never mentioned again.  
**

**Also be advised, this story will NOT be updating daily like the last one was because I'm still in the process of writing it (the last one was already finished when I started posting it)  
**

**Thoughts and criticisms are encouraged and appreciated.**

* * *

"Ugh! You're still here?"

Knockout looked away from the file in his servo and glared down as the little pink headed girl stepped out of Bumblebee- a base full of Autobots with millenniums worth of Decepticon blood on their servos, and it turns out the one whose company he could stand the _least _was a human? It hardly made sense… but he couldn't help it; the thing was as subtle as a red rust infection.

Mostly the Autobots did him the favor of pretending not to notice him off in the corner and he returned the favor by minding his own business, but this obnoxious little organic… she just wouldn't stop _harassing_ him.

"NO_." _he began sarcastically, "I've actually left already- This is a holomatter projection I left behind just to annoy _you_."

"Yeah? Well, it's _working_." She said, slamming Bumblebee's door.

"_BEEEzooooooBBZZZZZZZRRT_"

"Miko, Bee says don't forget your stuff in his trunk." Raf called to her as he hopped out of Bee's other door.

"Oh right!" she mumbled, quickly going back around the yellow car.

It had been five days already. Five days Knockout had been dealing with this awkward tension- and though the human had been the worst offender, she definitely wasn't the only one. Her pal Bulkhead was obviously just as offended by his presence as she was; he was just more subtle in how he showed it: the awkward half glances, the passive aggressive remarks, the hostile grumbling under his ventilations- honestly, it was getting old.

To make matters worse Bulkhead was also healing from his own encounter with the Decepticons, so he was resigned to the base _all the time._ And they had to share the tiny space alloted for Ratchet's medical area while they were recovering, making it even more awkward. _And_ his little pink headed friend would show up every afternoon at the same time and keep the big oaf company; usually at the expense of any peace and quiet that may have settled on the base while she wasn't around.

Knockout watched Miko a moment longer wondering what sort of amusement she had planned today. Deafening music? Messy arts and crafts? One of those _ghastly_ car wrecking spectacles on their television?

Whatever it was, she'd be sure to annoy him somehow during it. As Miko popped open Bumblebee's trunk, Knockout pulled his gaze away and went back to sharpening his digits with the file he'd stolen out of Ratchet's toolbox.

Miko came back around Bumblebee with a burlap tote bag over one shoulder and two lidded silver buckets in her hands, "I thought we could do some uh…" she glanced over at Raf, "What did you call it?"

Raf looked over from where he and Bumblebee had settled in by the couch, "Appropriating a human cultural custom for Cybertronian use."

"Yeah. _That_."

Bulkhead tilted his helm slightly, "Uhhh… what_?_"

Miko held up one of the buckets in her hand, "I'm gonna paint your nails!" she said with a wide, enthusiastic smile, "I used to do it with my dad when I was little. It'll be fun!"

"Heh, sure Miko. Whatever you say." Bulkhead said, returning her smile as the little human started unpacking the bag. She pulled out a paint roller and a few trays for paint and started setting up along the floor in front of Bulkhead.

Knockout glanced down at her again; she had begun trying to pry open one of the paint cans and was having a hard time of it. As he was just about to look away, she finally managed to pop off the lid, but the force of it caused her to drop the can and send paint splattering across the floor.

Knockout pulled his legs out of the way just in time, and the pink pigment splashed across the ground where his pedes had been just a moment before. "HEY! Watch it you little frizzrat!" he snapped, glaring down at the human.

"What did you call me?"

"A frizzrat." Knockout repeated, settling his pedes back on the floor, careful of the wet paint, "It's a _pest_. Kind of like you."

Miko glared right back at him, but then suddenly her expression became quite sly and she quickly turned back to Bulkhead. As she did she kicked her foot out, sending the paint can flying and clattering against Knockout's ankle and splashing pink everywhere.

"Whoops!"

Knockout stared down at his pink pede for moment before his optics darted back to Miko, flaring in a rage, "AUGH! YOU FRAGGING LITTLE-!" He cut himself off and continued in a mumble, clenching his servos as he struggled to contain his anger, "If I wasn't surrounded by Autobots right now, I'd-"

"You'd what_?_" Miko interrupted, "You'd squish me? Well go on! I'd love to see you _try!_"

"That's _enough_ you two!"

Knockout looked up and saw Ratchet had turned away from his computer to look back and, though he had addressed both of them, he was staring daggers at Knockout. He returned the look, but only for a moment. It wouldn't do him any favors to be on his doctor's bad side right now… not any more than he already was at least. Turning away, he pushed himself up and stomped off towards Ratchet's supply storage and began rummaging through it for something to clean his leg with.

He finally settled on a semi-clean oil rag, sat down on the floor, and commenced with trying to salvage his paintjob. "Ugh. I swear, if this hideous pink stains my finish…"

"Pssh. You don't know what you're talking about." Miko paused in continuing to set up one of the trays to sass Knockout again, "Pink isn't _hideous_- it's the best color!"

"Pink clashes with red, numb nodes." Knockout said, only glancing up from his work on his ankle. "As if _you'd_ know anything about color coordination. Have you looked in a mirror lately?"

Miko was visibly offended by this last remark and started trying to stutter out a snarky response. Bulkhead, who had seemed to be enjoying Miko giving Knockout a hard time, finally decided to step in; he reached down to encourage her to continue with the paint, "Come on, Miko. Just ignore him-"

"WHY _ARE_ YOU STILL HERE?" she suddenly blurted out.

Knockout stopped in wiping at the paint and looked up. Miko and Bulkhead were looking over at him now, somewhat expectantly. It seemed like they actually wanted a real answer this time. Glancing over, he noticed that Ratchet as well as Bee and his human were watching out of the corner of their optics. He opened his mouth to respond, but after saying nothing for a few seconds he closed it again and went back to rubbing his ankle.

He could just say the 'Cons were still looking for him and it was too dangerous, or that he hadn't quite regained enough strength to fight on his own yet. And those would both be true… but there was something else. Something he couldn't quite put his digit on… but he wasn't about to express any of that to this obnoxious little human.

Rather, he grumbled a quiet "_Whatever…_" and continued with cleaning himself.

Miko, seeing she wasn't about to get an answer, glared at him a minute longer before turning back to Bulkhead in a huff.

* * *

"Hey! Hey Nine! Check this out!"

MH-09 watched irritably as his partner, MH-10, tipped his right wheels up and began grinding them along the rocky wall along the side of the road they were on.

"Would you stop fooling around?" Nine growled, "We're on a mission."

Ten laughed and et his wheels fall back onto the road. Then he slowed down so they were driving side by side, "Oh, lighten up!" he said, "I'm just having a bit of fun- It's not like they seriously expect us to find Knockout."

Nine hated having to admit that was true- only getting orders as vague as "_Find Knockout_" just made it all the more obvious. High Command was clearly working hard on its own method to locate the traitor, but for now they'd just scattered a few dozen squads across the planet to make the soldiers feel like they were doing something helpful. All it made MH-09 feel was that he was wasting his time…

Still, the Vehicon had to concede that just driving along the quiet mountain roads with his partner and not worrying about getting a command every ten minutes _was _somewhat pleasant, even though they weren't accomplishing anything.

They drove on silently, side by side for awhile longer, just taking in the scenic mountain landscape and enjoying the winding curves of the road… then Ten spoke up again:

"Whoa! Nine, I'm picking up… A-are you getting this too?"

Nine hadn't been paying attention, but he quickly went to check his internal monitors; he slowed down considerably when he saw the signal coming through on his scanners. "What? But… That's impossible!" he mumbled, "How could we be picking up his signal?"

"Uhh… Wow, this is serious isn't it?" Ten mumbled, "Should we report into MH-01 and tell him that-?"

"Tell him _what?_" Nine interrupted, "We're not actually supposed to find anything out here- He'll just think we've fried a circuit!"

Ten hesitated for a moment but then quickened his pace, speeding around the turns in the road. "I know! We'll investigate _ourselves_." he called back, "Then we'll know for certain and we can call in without sounding like we've got a screw loose."

Nine seemed hesitant but regardless, he hurried after his partner.

The two Vehicons hurried around the turns in the mountain road, speeding along, trying to catch up with-

"There! Up ahead!" Nine shouted. Sure enough, farther ahead of them on the road was a large blue SUV.

"Wow, it really is him- It's _Breakdown_!" Ten raced ahead, "Come on! Let's get his attention!"

"Whoa wait a second, this doesn't feel right-" but before Ten even heard Nine's protest he was honking his horn as he came up behind the SUV.

"Hey! Hey Breakdown! It's me, MH-10!" he shouted, continuing to honk his horn, "Have you been alive this whole time? What the _slag_ have you been doing? We've missed you around the canteens!"

The mirrors on the car tilted back, taking in the two purple cars behind it… then suddenly it sped up and began pulling away from them.

"Wha-? Hey where're ya going?" Ten called after him and started to follow.

"Wait! Ten _stop_- Something's off about this!" Nine yelled, but Ten wasn't listening and he continued chasing after the SUV.

Nine tried to hurry after him, but he was suddenly distracted by something catching his audio receptors. He turned his focus up and realized two helicopters had appeared and were flying low overhead… he was really starting to get nervous now. Rather than keep yelling he turned on his comm link, "_Ten?! Ten, stop chasing him and get back here!_"

For a moment a crackling static came across the connection, but then it was quiet. Now Nine was positive something was wrong. This time he tried to call up MH-01, but he was met with the same static- now it was obvious; their comm signals were being scrambled! He mumbled a curse and jammed down his accelerator. Whatever was happening it was serious- he had to get Ten to notice too.

As he approached his partner and was about to shout a warning to him, the SUV suddenly slammed its breaks and swerved around to face them. The Vehicons stopped quickly as well to avoid a collision. After a moment of silence, the SUV began to move with the sound of gears whirring and plates shifting until finally it reformed revealing that it was, in fact, Breakdown.

Ten transformed into his robot mode as well and took a step forward to greet his fellow 'Con. Nine followed suit and quickly grabbed Ten's arm to stop him… as the 'Con looked back he finally noticed the helicopters hovering behind them.

"Before we continue, I just want to personally thank you two for revealing yourselves-" The Vehicons stared back at Breakdown again as he spoke, but not in Breakdown's voice. "We were just about to start tracking a few of you down. How kind of you to save us the trouble!"

Not a second after he finished the sentence, the helicopters each shot a small grey canister towards the Vehicons which latched onto their backs, sending a massive electrical charge through the pair. Their agonizing screams didn't last long, as they were very quickly offlined and collapsed in a heap on the road.

"_Very good, sir. Shall we call for transport?_"

Silas raised a digit to the comm link on the side of his helm, "Yes, and make it quick." he replied, then he gave a short nudge against Ten with his pede, "We'll strip down and process this one for parts… and the other will make an excellent first addition to our army."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thoughts and criticisms are encouraged and appreciated  
**

* * *

"_Ratchet? Come in, Ratchet- do you read?_"

The medic placed down his tools and stepped over to the computer console, "Yes. Go ahead, Arcee."

"_I'm being tailed. Pretty sure they're 'Cons._"

Ratchet brought up Arcee's position on his monitor, and there were indeed two Decepticon signals not far behind her on the map, "Yes I'm picking them up on my scanner." he replied, "Shall I send you a bridge?"

"_No, I can take care of a couple 'Cons myself- I just wanted to be sure._"

"Well alright, but don't get in over your helm. Optimus and Bumblebee are off-site so you'll have no backup. And the Decepticons are- urrm... significantly more _active_ as of... recent events." Ratchet paused and glanced slightly back towards Knockout, but then continued, "So proceed with caution, and report back in as soon as possible."

"_Will do. Over and out._" there was a quiet beep as communications were cut off.

"Geez Ratch. You don't have to tip-toe around it! We all know the 'Cons are after _him_."

Ratchet turned from the computer's controls to look over at Miko. She and Bulkhead had set up across the room; the human had her guitar in her lap (not plugged in thankfully) while Bulkhead (sporting some freshly painted pink digit-tips) listened to her play. As Miko looked back at Ratchet she stood, "If he's putting _our_ team in danger we should just toss him through the bridge and be done with it already!"

"Miko!" Ratchet began to scold her, but he hesitated. Amazingly, Miko had a good point. The Autobots were definitely at risk by continuing to shelter Knockout. Megatron must have been desperate to capture the medic at that point- The deployment of more ground troops was only the beginning. He shuddered to think what the Decepticon Leader could be scheming at that very moment... but Ratchet would never openly question Optimus' decision to let him stay, and so after a momentary pause he responded the only way he could: "That isn't the Autobot way."

"Well _he's_ not an Autobot." Miko said, approaching the platform railing. Then cupped her hand around her mouth and shouted towards Knockout: "AND HE NEVER WILL BE!"

The 'Con had been deliberately facing away from her and doing his best to ignore all of them. However, this last statement finally pulled him into the conversation; he whirled around and glared at the human, "Good!" he snapped, "What makes you think I would even _want _to be an Autobot?"

"Well then why haven't you left?"

"Here we go again..." Ratchet mumbled, turning back to his work station.

Miko ignored Ratchet and continued, "Seriously, if you hate us so much maybe you should do everyone a favor and just leave! All you've done is put us in danger and cause trouble around the base."

"_YOU'RE_ THE ONE WHO'S BEEN-!" Knockout cut himself off as Bulkhead gave him a hard glare; he turned away again as he mumbled curses to himself.

Miko went back over to Bulkhead and resumed strumming her guitar, but she continued over the music, "Since you're so bent on sticking around, maybe you should actually do something helpful... in fact, I bet you'd make _great_ 'Con bait."

Knockout shot a disdainful glare over at the human, but said nothing in response. As he turned to look away again, he glanced up at the monitor which was still displaying the map and Arcee's coordinates. His gaze lingered as he realized, there were more than two Decepticon signals now. In fact, there was a whole cluster of them slowly making its way across the map right towards the little blue beacon that was Arcee's location. Ratchet was facing away towards his work station and hadn't noticed.

"Well... this might qualify as helpful-" he began, raising his digit towards the screen, "Your friend Arcee is about to be up to her optics in Vehicons."

"What?!" Ratchet whirled around to face the screen again and spotted the cluster of dots moving towards Arcee. "Where did _they_ come from? And how did they find her so fast?!"

Knockout stood and stepped closer to the console as well, peering down at the coordinates displayed on the bottom of the map, "_That_ would explain it." he mumbled, pointing down at them, "These coordinates aren't far off from an energon mine."

Ratchet scowled back at Knockout, "You've memorized the coordinates of the Decepticons' mining operations?" he demanded, "And you didn't _say_ anything?!"

"I don't know _all _of them. Just some of the bigger ones." Knockout said, turning around and going back to his corner, "And that _is_ one of the bigger ones. So you'd do well to get her out of there before the rest of the mining team shows up."

Turning quickly back to the console, Ratchet tried calling Arcee; "Arcee come in!" he said into his comm, "Arcee? Do you read me?"

Some muffled static came across the connection, and then nothing.

"Scrap! They're scrambling her comm signals." He looked anxiously up at the monitor again, "And no time to go and get Optimus and Bumblebee for backup..."

"Hey, I gotcher backup right here!" Ratchet looked over at Bulkhead. The green Autobot had stepped forward and transformed his hands into wrecking balls. He slammed them together with an intimidating _CLANG_, "Fire up the bridge, doc! I'll take out those 'Cons!"

Ratchet scowled at him, "You most certainly will _not!_" he snapped,"You haven't fully recovered from your exposure to the Tox-En yet. You couldn't fight off all of those Decepticons by yourself."

"I _wouldn't_ be by myself!" Bulkhead said, shrugging his shoulders in a pout, "Arcee is there."

"Yes, but if you were to be separated then-" Ratchet looked up at the screen again and let out a frustrated growl "Arrrgh. There's no time to argue about this!" Stepping over to the groundbridge controls he punched in the coordinates and pulled the activation lever, then moved towards the glowing portal, "I'm going to help Arcee myself."

"Aww c'mon Ratchet!" Bulkhead said, whining slightly, "If _you're _going then I could come with you!"

Ratchet paused a moment and turned back, "Certainly _not._ You want to leave _him _alone in our base?" he said glaring over at Knockout.

Bulkhead followed his gaze over to the 'Con, who said nothing but only offered a small shrug. Looking back to Ratchet, Bulkhead grumbled a reluctant agreement and transformed his wrecking balls back into his servos.

"Good. Close the bridge behind me- We can't risk any Decepticons slipping through. I will contact you when the coast is clear." With that, Ratchet turned back and hurried through the groundbridge and Bulkhead obediently powered it down behind him, though not looking too pleased about it.

"They're... gonna be okay, right?"

Bulkhead forced his sour expression back with a light smile as he turned to look at Miko, "Oh sure!' he said, "Ol' Ratch may be a bit rusty but he's no push over, and- well, you've seen how well Arcee handles herself." Bulkhead paused and looked back up at the map. The two initial Decepticon signals had vanished, but the group had already descended on the blue signals representing Arcee and now Ratchet as well. "Yeah, they'll be okay..." he mumbled.

His optics continued to follow the slight movement of the beacons intently. The map was too large and the signals too small to understand what was happening, but after awhile it was clear that the Decepticons were driving the Autobots back. He began to mess with the console.

"Hrmm. Can we zoom in on this thing?" he growled, "It's hard to tell what's going on."

"Don't look at me-" Miko said, "Raf's the one who does all that techno mumbo-jumbo. I got no idea how this thing works."

Bulkhead continued to play with the controls trying to get a better idea of how the fight was going. Behind him Knockout was watching curiously as he sat with his arms folded across his chassis, "Shouldn't you- I don't know... call Prime or something?" he suggested.

"They said they'd be outside... communication range for awhile..." Bulkhead said, "I'd have to actually... go off-base to... bring them back." His sentences were a bit broken up as he distractedly fiddled with the console. Finally, in frustration he slammed his fist down on the keyboard. The screen flickered slightly, then responded by zooming out farther on the map earning a frustrated groan from both Miko and Bulkhead.

"Aww scrap!" Bulkhead looked back down to the controls, "Maybe I could-"

"Wait, Bulk look!"

Turning his optics back to the map, Bulkhead's jaw fell open, "Oh SCRAP!"

On the expanded map, they now saw a _massive _cluster of Decepticons just above Ratchet and Arcee's position, and another wave was heading towards them!

"Ahh. There's the mine I was talking about." Knockout said, lifting his digit slightly to point, "And there's more on the way- Better hope they get out of there soon."

Bulkhead ignored him and continued to glare up at the screen, his digits giving a nervous twinge over the controls. "Arrrgh! That does it!" he shouted, finally turning from the screen and approaching the groundbridge controls, "I'm going out there to warn them!" he placed his servo on the activation lever-

"AHEM." Miko cleared her throat loudly, "Aren't you forgetting something?!"

"NOMiko. You're not coming with-"

"NOT _ME_!"

Bulkhead turned back around and Knockout met his gaze almost expectantly. The 'Con leaned back against the wall and shrugged his shoulders, "I know you're not exactly inclined to believe this, but you _can_ leave me unsupervised and I won't break all your computers or squish your friend or anything... Honestly. I'm not stupid. I know it's not in my best interest to cause trouble."

Bulkhead said nothing in response, and just glared at him clutching his servos tightly.

"You should go. They're getting closer to your friends..." Knockout continued glancing over at the computer again, "It's not like you have much of a choice."

"That's where you're wrong." Bulkhead finally spoke up. Stepping over to Knockout he grabbed ahold of the 'Con's arm and yanked him up, "I'm not leavin' you all alone here with Miko- You're coming with me!"

"WHAT?!" Knockout tried to pull back, but Bulkhead had a tight grip on him, "You're out of your processor! There's no way I'm going out there!"

Bulkhead proceeded to drag Knockout over to the bridge controls despite his protests, "Yeah well Miko was right- It's _your _fault the 'Cons are so active, and if you're gonna use our base as your little hidey hole, then I'm at least gonna make sure you earn your keep." he released Knockout and the 'Con stumbled back slightly, but kept his gaze firmly on Bulkhead for a minute longer. Finally he bowed his helm in resignation.

"...Alright you have a fair point." he grumbled reluctantly, "But what do you expect me to do exactly? The instant I step through that bridge every one of those 'Cons is going to come at me!"

"I know." Bulkhead grinned as he activated the groundbridge, "It's like Miko said- We're gonna use you as 'Con bait!"


	3. Chapter 3

**weh. This chapter was supposed to have a whole bunch more, but I decided to cut it off early since it's been so long since I've updated this. I feel like nothing happens this chapter, but that's just because it takes me forever to describe fighting.**

**That's okay. Next chapter will be less Ratchet and Arcee jumping around and more Knockout and Bulkhead pissing each other off and being sassy~**

**Thoughts and criticisms are encouraged and appreciated**

* * *

Ratchet had already suspected that he was getting in over his helm when he went to assist Arcee alone- but the circumstances were rather desperate, and there hadn't seemed to be any other viable options. Now the two of them were facing almost ten Vehicons, and they were slowly being pushed back. He was starting to wish he had risked attempting an escape through the groundbridge rather than staying to fight the 'Cons off.

After cutting down another attacking Vehicon with his scalpel, he held the 'Con's frame out in front of him as a shield, intercepting yet another's blaster fire. "There's too many of them!" he threw down the Vehicon and dashed over to Arcee, who was occupied with a group of her own.

"Well what should we do then?" she said as she continued shooting.

"A tactical retreat?" Ratchet suggested, "If we could just get far enough away to safely make it through the groundbridge-"

"Let's do it then!" Arcee pulled her arm up and leapt forward, transforming into her vehicle mode. Then spun around to flee back down the mountain road she'd come up. Ratchet was quick to follow suit and sped after her as the Vehicons continued a torrent of blaster fire.

"After them! Quickly!" One of the Vehicons shouted. The remaining 'Cons immediately obeyed; transforming and zooming after the Autobots. The one who shouted remained behind, however, and pressed a digit to the comm link on his audio receptor, "JQ-01 to DU-01, the 'Bots are being driven back towards your position. Are you ready for them yet?"

"_Affirmative, squad DU is in position. Though the old medic arriving changes plans a bit; tell your squad we now aim to take _him _alive rather than the femme. AA-00 figures the 'Bots are more likely to do the trade if it's a medic for a medic._"

"Understood. I'll relay the change." the 'Con removed his digit from his comm link and ran forward, about to transform and go after his unit, but suddenly the sound of a groundbridge met his audio receptors. He stopped and whirled around only to have Bulkhead's massive fist collide with his helm and send the Vehicon tumbling across the ground with a loud _CLANG!_

As he skid to a stop, he summoned all his strength trying to push himself up; his visuals were growing fuzzy as damage indicators began to flood in. Through the flashes across his visuals warning him about his smashed helm, he could just make out two red and green bots standing just a short distance from him, and he could hear their voices.

"Aww scrap... where are they?"

"They probably fled- Which sounds like a good idea right about now! This is_ stupid_! We won't be able to fight off all-"

"We're _not_ gonna fight 'em all! We're gonna lure them away from Ratchet and Arcee so they can escape. Then we'll escape for ourselves."

"That's a terrible plan..."

"Yeah? Well if you've got a better way to save 'em I'd love to hear it!"

The Vehicon, still struggling to sit up, instead managed to push himself over onto his back. He raised a digit to his damaged audio receptor, trying to activate his comm link, but suddenly it was kicked away. The assailing pede then slammed down on his chassis, earning a strangled cry from his vocalizer.

"You! Start talking-" Bulkhead shouted, transforming his servo into a wrecking ball and holding it back threateningly, "Which way did they go?!"

"Go on then! Do it!" The Vehicon braced himself against the ground, glaring up at Bulkhead. "I'll never tell you anything!"

"Bulkhead." Both the 'Bot and 'Con looked over to see Knockout pointing down the road ahead of them, "They went this way."

"How can you be sure?"

"Well all the skid marks and blaster burns are a little telling." Knockout replied, with just a hint of snark. "If you'd just bothered to look you might have-"

"_TRAITOR!_"

Knockout stopped and turned his gaze down to the Vehicon beneath Bulkhead's pede. The glow of his optics were flaring from behind his visor, and his digits were digging into the ground in a rage. "Just wait until Lord Megatron gets his servos on you, _Autobot scum_!"

"That's enough outta you!" In one swift motion, Bulkhead brought his wrecking ball down on the Vehicon's helm, smashing it into the ground. Stepping off the mangled 'Con, he rushed forward and past Knockout, transforming into his vehicle mode. "Come on! Let's hurry!" he shouted back as he drove off down the road.

Knockout was about to follow after but he hesitated. He glanced back at the leaking frame of the Vehicon for a moment. Finally he turned away, forcing out something like a half-smile, and quipped just to himself; "Frag. _Everyone_ thinks I want to be an Autobot, don't they...?"

With that he leapt forward and transformed, racing off after Bulkhead.

Further down the road, Ratchet and Arcee were still fleeing from the squadron of Vehicons, who were still firing wildly after the two Autobots. Arcee realized she was well ahead of the medic and fell back to give him some cover.

"I don't think this retreat thing is working." she shouted over the blaster fire.

"I know, I know!" Ratchet replied, "Perhaps we should-"

He didn't get to articulate the rest of his idea though, because a moment later the two 'Bots had to slam on their brakes to avoid crashing headlong into the squadron of Eradicons that practically fell out of the sky and landed right in front of them on the road. The flying 'Cons didn't waste any time either; transforming out their blasters they charged towards the Autobots.

"SCRAP!" Arcee quickly changed back into her robot mode and sprinted to the right off the side of the road, "RATCHET! THIS WAY!"

The medic transformed as well and made to follow after, but both of them were stopped in their tracks as the pursuing Vehicons caught up and cut off their escape. Arcee transformed out her arm blades and leapt forward trying to clear them from her and Ratchet's path. She managed to cut down a few but there were just too many of them and she was quickly surrounded.

Ratchet transformed out his scalpels and charged forward to assist her. As he did the approaching Eradicons reached them and some of them stepped in his way to separate the two Autobots. That didn't deter Ratchet, though. He drew back his arm and thrust it towards the first Eradicon. It blocked his attack and took a swipe at him with its claws that Ratchet managed to dodge. He managed to take advantage of a momentary opening from the 'Con's attack and drove one of the scalpels into his side. The Eradicon crumpled to the ground clutching his injury and Ratchet leapt past him and transformed into his vehicle mode. In his smaller form he was able to maneuver around the remaining 'Cons in his way without having to engage them.

Before he could reach Arcee, however, a few of the Vehicons surrounding her took notice that Ratchet had broken away from the Eradicons and opened fire on him. One shot managed to strike him, and the force of it sent him tumbling onto his side. He transformed back into robot mode and tried to stand, but he just couldn't muster the strength. He looked up to see the Vehicons drawing closer, their blasters raised.

"RATCHET!" Arcee began sprinting to the medic's aid, but the 'Cons she had disengaged transformed out their blasters and began firing after her. Two shots caught her in the back and she was sent sprawling into the dirt. She raised her helm with a painful groan to see the Vehicons were now standing right over Ratchet. Before she could regain her composure a pede smashed into the back of her helm, forcing her back down with a loud _CLANG._

The Vehicon closest to Ratchet lifted his blaster to the medic's helm, "See you in the Pit, Autobot-" he said as it began to hum with charge-

"STOP YOU _SCRAPHEAD_!"

The Vehicon paused and looked back. One of the Eradicons had pushed his way forward and was stomping up to the group of Vehicons, "You're supposed to kill the _femme._ We want the medic alive!" he shouted.

"Wha-? Oh. Um... Sorry, sir. We thought AA-00 wanted us to capture the femme..." the 'Con responded, glancing over at his fellow Vehicons. They all nodded in agreement. The Eradicon glowered at them, his wings twitching angrily. With an agitated groan he stormed over towards Arcee, readying his blaster.

"I gave these instructions to JQ-01. He was supposed to relay them to you." This was met by confused looks from all of them. "He didn't contact _any_ of you with this information? Well then what the frag has he been-?" The 'Con was cut short by the roar of an engine closely followed by the whirr of a transformation cog- he spun around in time to glimpse a flash of green before he was pummeled into the ground.

The general air of the group changed from confusion to shock as Bulkhead stepped off the Eradicon. It wore off rather quickly though and they raised their weapons to fire. However, yet another sound caught their attention; this time it was of wheels screeching to a halt and a voice-

"Hey 'Cons! Looking for _me_?"

The Decepticons looked back and spotted the red sports car sitting just up the road taunting them with the revs of of its engine.

While the 'Cons were momentarily distracted, Bulkhead took out the other 'Con holding down Arcee and pulled her up onto her pedes, then gave her a short push towards Ratchet, "You get Ratchet outta here- We'll distract the 'Cons!"

"Bulkhea-!"

"There's no time to argue!" With that Bulkhead rushed forward, smashing through the group of Vehicons again, then transformed and zoomed back up the road. Knockout swerved around and followed after him leaving behind some very bewildered Decepticons.

"Was that Knockout?!"

"Frag it _was_!"

"What do we do?"

"Whattaya mean _what do we do?_ Let's fraggin get 'im!"

"But what about the other Autobots? And the plan-?"

"SCRAP THE PLAN! HE'S RIGHT THERE!"

"NO! No you IDIOTS!" The Eradicon Bulkhead had smashed into the ground had regained consciousness and was trying to get up, "That's what they want you t-!"

Before he could finish his warning Arcee jumped forward and kicked him across the back of his helm, sending him back to the ground. It hardly mattered anyway- the other 'Cons had already transformed and gone tearing after Bulkhead and Knockout.

Arcee looked over in time to see them disappear down the road, then turned to Ratchet. He was grumbling angrily as she bent over to help him up. "For Primus' sake- Bulkhead's going to get himself killed! What does he think he's doing?!"

"He's saving our plating, that's what." Arcee said, pulling the injured medic up. "Come on! We've gotta get back to base and get him some help-"


	4. Chapter 4

**This chapter is a big longer as an apology for making you wait so long. Other than that, just enjoy!  
**

**Thoughts and criticisms are encouraged and appreciated**

* * *

"Fragfragfragfrag FRAG! How did you talk me into this?!"

"Keep it together, doc-"

"Don't call me 'doc!' And this was YOUR stupid plan! So what now?!"

"Uh... Um... W-we'll figure something out."

Knockout swerved to dodge yet another rain of blaster fire from the Decepticons behind them. Their pursuers were now six Vehicons and seven Eradicons. Way too many for just the two of them to have a chance at victory. "Of course. That's just like a Wrecker." Knockout grumbled, "Dive right in without thinking about the consequences- I should have seen this coming... Bunch of fraggin' idiots, the lot of you-"

"'Hey! There's no badmouthing the Wreckerson _my _watch!" Bulkhead might have had more to say on the subject, but the Vehicons were closing in on them, and he stopped talking in order to slam into one that had pulled up next to him. The hit sent the 'Con careening off the side of the road and crashing into a deep ravine.

Meanwhile Knockout had pulled ahead slightly, but was clearly not going his full speed so as to keep Bulkhead close. "Can't you go any faster?!" he called back.

"Well we can't all be slaggin' sports cars, now can we?" Bulkhead swerved slightly as a blast nearly hit him from the side. "Uh oh. I don't think it's gonna matter- Not even _you_ could outrun those guys."

As he spoke, the group of Eradicons flew overhead. Transforming to their robot modes, they landed on the road just ahead of the two, blocking their way. Knockout and Bulkhead both slammed on their brakes, as did the Vehicons behind them. Quickly changing back to their robot modes, Knockout and Bulkhead pulled out their respective weapons, preparing to square off as the surrounding 'Cons raised their blasters.

"Take Knockout alive!" one of the Eradicons ordered, "And kill the other Autobot!" At his command the other 'Cons sprung forward to attack.

Bulkhead gave Knockout a small push towards the Vehicons and shouted, "You take the grounders- I'll handle the flyers!" Bulkhead didn't waste any time and made a flying leap into the group of Eradicons, swinging his wrecking ball wildly.

Knockout pulled his gaze away from Bulkhead wailing on an Eradicon to look back at the Vehicons. "It's useless- You should give up now, doctor." One of them spoke up as they approached, their blasters and claws at the ready. "Lord Megatron may go easier on you if you surrender yourself willingly."

"If you imbeciles really believe that you should get your heads examined." Knockout raised his staff and it began to crackle with electrical charge, "Allow _me_!"

Knockout pulled back his staff and lunged for the closest Vehicon. He managed to step aside in time to dodge and the blue charged end of the staff sailed right past him. However as he went to counter-attack, Knockout pulled his staff back sharply and struck him square in the face with the back end of his staff, throwing the 'Con off balance. While he staggered backwards, Knockout transformed his other servo into his saw blade and drove it deep into the Vehicon's chassis.

His teammates, initially surprised that he had taken to the offensive so quickly, began to charge their blasters and fired on the medic. Though Knockout managed to swing the impaled Vehicon in front of him as a shield and he ended up taking the brunt of the blasts. Raising his pede up, he forcefully kicked the Vehicon's frame off his blade, sending him crashing into another one.

The other four didn't waste any time and quickly descended on him. Knockout was able to dodge and maneuver around their attacks for a short time, but they were coming at him from all sides, and it wasn't long before they started landing blows. It didn't help with the fifth one he'd knocked down regained his footing and joined in with the others. This wasn't looking good.

Meanwhile, behind him Bulkhead wasn't having a great time of it either. Though he had initially taken out a few of the Eradicons, they finally realized how much faster they were than the Autobot and had taken to running about and smashing him back and forth between themselves. Finally, one last blow hit Bulkhead so forcefully as to send him flying backwards right into the other group.

Knockout _and_ the Vehicons were sent crashing to the ground in a heap as Bulkhead rolled over them. Unfortunately, Knockout ended up underneath the green 'Bot, and Bulkhead's massive weight slammed down on his recently injured back. Fresh pain shot up his spinal column, and he thought he event felt something start to crack.

"AAUGH! GET OFF YOU SLAGHEAD- YOU'RE CRUSHING ME!" Knockout cried, trying to push himself up. It was no use. Bulkhead was just too heavy, and that last blow had managed to knock the Autobot offline. The only response Knockout got was a small groan.

He got another response, however. One of the Eradicons was laughing. As his peers went to help the Vehicons get back on their pedes, he came over and picked up the staff which had been jarred from Knockout's grasp. "Oh, you think that hurts, huh?" he taunted, twirling the staff around, "Just wait until _we_ get through with you-" the end of the staff crackled to life.

"Stand down!" A second Eradicon came over and swiped the staff from the first one's servos, "High Command has ordered Knockout be brought in _alive_."

"I wasn't going to kill him... And come on! Don't you want to deal out a bit of justice?"

"That's not our job. Besides, the other Autobots could very well be on their way here. We need to be fast." The Eradicon looked down to Knockout and the staff in his servo began to glow with energy again. "Once we haul him in, Lord Megatron will ensure that justice is served." Knockout shrank as low to the ground as he could as the Eradicon held the staff closer to him, "I'm just sorry we won't get to see your face when-"

Suddenly the Eradicon was thrown backwards and the staff sent flying out of his servos. Bulkhead had come back online and took a hard swing at him with his wrecking ball. The Autobot clambered off of Knockout and then pulled him upright, earning a pained groan from the medic.

The remaining Decepticons quickly surrounded the pair and raised their blasters, about to unleash a fresh barrage of lasers on them. However, the Eradicon who had taken the hit stood up quickly, "Hold your fire!" he shouted. Still wavering a bit from the blow, he stepped forward towards Bulkhead and Knockout, holding out his servos amicably. "Listen, Autobot. We're _really_ not interested in you. And we're on a rather tight schedule. So how about this: you surrender Knockout and we'll let you go. No need for any more fighting. We can all walk away with our sparks intact. What do you say?"

Speaking of sparks, Knockout felt his sink. Bulkhead was going to haul aft out of there and he would be left to fight off all these 'Cons by himself! He might as well just clap on a pair of stasis cuffs himself. His mind started racing through all the terrible things Megatron would probably do to him, but then-

"Not gonna happen!"

Knockout looked over to Bulkhead. He hadn't expected that...

"You're making a grave mistake, Autobot." The Eradicon said, "You can't win this fight- you're impossibly outnumbered. I'm offering to spare your life!"

"Nice try, 'Con! But you don't know two things- One: an Autobot doesn't turn their back on someone in trouble. And two: I'm not just an Autobot- I'm a _Wrecker_." Bulkhead continued smashing his two wrecking balls together threateningly, then continued. "And Wreckers don't run from fights. Especially not when there's long odds."

The Eradicon lowered his helm angrily, then raised his arm and transformed it into his blaster, "Decepticons- Take them down!"

"Eh... you still wanna take the grounders?" Bulkhead mumbled.

"No you idiot! We can't fight them off separately!" Knockout grumbled. He glanced up at Bulkhead, then over at the Eradicon who'd picked up his staff. First of all he'd be needing to get that back. Speaking of backs, his was really throbbing by then. Well what did that matter? Both of them were about to get torn apart. Oh slag... And then they'd bring the pieces to Megatron so he could put him back together just so he could pull him apart again-

Oh no, no, that was a bad thing to imagine- the last thing he needed now was to start panicking.

Right. So how many were left anyway? They had taken out a couple Vehicons but these guys were seriously _tough._ It seemed like they just bounded back up after they'd been knocked down... Honestly, there was no chance they were going to best all those Decepticons with just the two of them.

Although, what the 'Con had said before- maybe the Autobots _were_ on their way... They just had to hold off until those theoretical reinforcements arrived. It was just a small glimmer of hope, but at least it was something. He had an idea of how to go about it too, and hopefully Bulkhead wasn't too dumb to catch on. "We need to work together-" he said, looking back at the Autobot, "Follow my lead!"

As the Decepticons descended on them again, Knockout leapt forward to meet the first Eradicon. Rather than engage him, Knockout managed to dodge his swipes, circling around the 'Con and giving him a forceful shove, sending him stumbling towards Bulkhead. Just as Knockout hoped, Bulkhead figured out his strategy immediately and pummeled the 'Con into the ground while he was off balance.

Knockout managed to redirect two more towards Bulkhead before he reached the Eradicon holding his staff. The 'Con swung the staff forward to connect it with Knockout and bring him down, but it was useless trying to best him with his own instrument- Knockout side stepped the attack, wrapped his servo around the staff, and twisted it around tearing it from the Eradicon's grasp. The 'Con didn't even have a chance to react before the staff was swung around and the prods dug into his neck cables.

As the 'Con spasmed with the electrical charge running through him, Knockout swung his staff around, dragging the Eradicon with it and sent it flying towards Bulkhead. The Autobot grabbed the incoming 'Con and smashed him into another of his atackers.

Knockout was about to send another Vehicon Bulkhead's way, but before he could make another move an Eradicon's blaster fire caught him square in the back sending him to the ground. The Eradicon leapt forward to grab the medic, but Bulkhead saw and quickly broke free from his own battle. Rushing forward, he grabbed ahold of the Eradicon's wing, pulled him off Knockout, and hurled him back into the other 'Cons.

"Come on, red! Get up!" Bulkhead proceeded to yank Knockout up by his tires and put him on his pedes. He staggered a bit almost falling back down, but he just managed to stay upright despite the pain radiating from his spinal column.

"Aaagh _frag_..." he groaned, "I can't keep this up much longer..."

"Quit yer whinin'! This ain't exactly a walk in the park for me either!" Bulkhead snapped, turning around to face the Decepticons who were now circling the two of them.

Glancing over at the Autobot, Knockout noticed he was trembling ever so slightly. He hadn't really paid attention to whatever injury had laid up Bulkhead this past week, but he did recall Ratchet saying something about him being weakened by Tox-En... He might be trying to put on a show of staying tough, but that was just apart of the Wrecker facade Knockout was all too familiar with... He might have overestimated how long the two of them could hold out. They weren't going to last five more minutes like this...

The Decepticons began closing in on them again. They could tell Knockout and Bulkhead were at their limit, and they were eager to finally end this- Then suddenly, they stopped in their tracks as the loud blare of a truck horn rang out from behind them.

Not a second later, Optimus Prime came crashing through the line of Vehicons with Arcee and Bumblebee on his tail. They each transformed into their robot forms and together, they began absolutely decimating the remaining Vehicons. As energon sprayed across the road, Knockout and Bulkhead just watched, too exhausted to even lend a hand...

Finally only two Eradicons were left. Apparently they were smart enough to know when to call it quits, because they quickly broke away, transformed, and flew off.

Knockout wasn't sure when it had happened but he found himself sitting on the ground. He looked behind him to see Bulkhead had done the same... he lifted his staff off the ground slightly and angrily jabbed Bulkhead with the back end of it.

"Don't ever make me do something this stupid again..." he growled.

Bulkhead glared back at the medic, "Sorry, doc. Not making any promises."

Finally, the Autobots stopped firing after the fleeing Eradicons and came over to help up Bulkhead and Knockout.

"_BeeepboooZZZZRRRRTwhirrrr?_" Bumblebee offered his servo out to Bulkhead.

"Nah, I'm alright, Bee." Bulkhead said, grabbing ahold and allowing the scout to pull him up, "Just a bit dinged up is all."

"How about you, Knockout?"

Knockout looked up to see Arcee had similarly extended her servo to him. "...I've been better." he grumbled, reaching up to accept her help.

As he regained his footing, Optimus approached the four of them. "Those Decepticons will doubtless be sending for reinforcements." he said giving a short glance towards the two tiny specks on the horizon, "I suggest we make our leave."

* * *

Miko couldn't stop pacing. She had been making laps around the couch and television since Prime and the others left to help Bulkhead, periodically shooting glances at the groundbridge as if expecting it to turn on by itself and spit out the Autobots.

"What's taking so long?!" she finally shouted, stomping up to the platform railing and smacking her hands down on it. "We should go make sure they're okay!"

"Easy there, Miko." Ratchet replied, looking up from the repairs he was doing on his own arm. "The whole team is out there- they can handle a few Vehicons. Optimus will call when it's all clear."

Miko leaned forward against the railing and looked down at the floor with a distressed pout on her face, "But Bulkhead was injured... what if-?"

"_Ratchet, come in._"

The medic quickly approached the computer console and pressed to answer the call, "I read you, Optimus." he replied, "You ready for a bridge?"

"_Affirmative. The immediate area is secure for now- but there may be more Decepticons on the way._"

"Understood!" Ratchet replied, hastily typing a command into the console. "We'll do this quickly then." he pushed down the lever to activate the groundbridge .

As the groundbridge powered on Miko hurried down the ramp onto the ground floor and ran up to the glowing portal. She reached the edge of the machine just as Bulkhead and Bumblebee materialized through the bridge, moving along rather slowly.

"Bulkhead!" she ran forward to meet him, but there really wasn't much she could do- so she merely walked alongside the two as Bumblebee helped the green 'Bot over to the medical area and encouraged him to sit down with a quiet whirr.

"Are you okay?" she demanded, climbing up the side of the medical table.

"Yeah! Yeah I'm fine, Miko." he responded with a warm smile. "Just a few dents... nothin' to worry about."

"I'll be the judge of that-" Ratchet had stepped away from the bridge controls and began running a scanner over Bulkhead.

As he did, Miko stepped up to Bulkhead on the table and tried her best to wrap her arms around his massive wrist.

"I'm alright, Miko. Really!" he insisted.

"I know... but that's twice this week you've scared me." she mumbled, pressing her face against the warm metal of his arm. "Don't do it again, okay?"

Bulkhead's smile wavered and he offered his other servo, touching her shoulder lightly. "I'm sorry... I'll be more careful. I promise."

Miko tightened her grip on his arm and held him for just a moment longer, then pulled away slightly to look up at him with a somewhat unconvincing smile, "Pinky swear?" she held up her hand with her pinky extended.

Bulkead let out a quiet chuckle and extended his 'pinky' digit towards her, "You got it, kiddo."

Miko's smile brightened a bit as she poked his digit with her own finger. She held it there for a moment, then she let out a quiet laugh.

"Awww!" she moaned through her laugh, grabbing ahold of his digit with both her hands to inspect it. "You ruined your pretty nail polish!"

Bulkhead held up his other servo to see for himself, and the pink paint on his digit tips had indeed been mostly scratched off. He looked back down at her with a smile, "Ohh that's too bad." he said, also laughing a bit, "You'll have to fix that up for me!"

"Luckily, it seems your paint is the only thing that really needs fixing." Ratchet interjected on their moment. He had finished the scan and was looking at the results on his device. "I'm not registering any internal damage- just some minor trauma to exterior plating... nothing that can't just-"

"I'm not one to be against fixing scratches and dents-" Ratchet looked around to see Knockout had also come through the portal, being mostly supported by Arcee. "-but I think a shattered spinal column is a little more _pressing._"

Ratchet lowered his scanner and glared at Knockout, "Oh please- If your spinal column was _shattered_ you wouldn't even be functioning, let alone standing."

Bulkhead took Miko in his servos and shuffled to the other side of the room to sit. Knockout, with a bit of assistance from Arcee, took his seat on the medical table. Arcee then hurried over to the groundbridge to deactivate it, though not before Optimus came through, of course.

"Alright so I'm exaggerating. Whatever. I'm in _pain_. Do something about it!" Knockout continued, shifting uncomfortably trying to rub his injured back.

Ratchet's scowl became harder, "I have half a mind to just let you stay broken! This whole situation was _your_ fault."

"What?! ...Didn't we already broach this subject?" Knockout looked up, returning the glare, "I recall you saying some scrap about the 'Autobot way.' Why suddenly-?"

"No not _that._" Ratchet raised a digit to point it sternly at Knockout's face, "You were withholding information! You _knew _there was a Decepticon mining operation in that vicinity. If you had provided us with that intel in the first place we would have known not to patrol in that area and we could have avoided-"

"HEY!" Knockout interrupted Ratchet, shoving the servo out of his face, "You didn't _ask _me for any information!" he shouted back, "I'm not withholding scrap- I've been sitting here for a week while you lot have been totally ignoring me!"

Ratchet took a step back, looking a bit flustered. "Well you could have-"

"Oh don't give me that!" Knockout interrupted him yet again, "If I had _offered_ you any information you'd have immediately assumed I was lying. And don't even pretend that you wouldn't!"

"Alright Knockout, we get it. Just calm down-" Arcee reached forward to touch his shoulder, but he swatted her servo away-

"DON'T FRAGGIN' TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!" he shouted, "If you lot had shown up two kliks later I'd be getting strung up in front of Megatron right now- and you want me to CALM DOWN?!"

"Yeah, well we _didn't _and you aren't!" Arcee folded her arms across her chassis irritably, "And yes, you should calm down; you're in our base. It's safe for now."

"No! That's another thing." Knockout continued, "I don't fraggin' care if you blame me for whatever stupid calls you all made today- but I'm sick of pretending to be safe staying at your base! The only assurance I have that I'm safe with you is some '_code of conduct_' that I don't even understand! This whole situation is-!"

"Knockout-" Finally, Optimus Prime spoke up and stepped forward. "I realize this has been a difficult week for you, and I am sorry that you feel questionably about your safety here. However, I believe we can take steps to remedy that should you be interested in making your set-up with us more permanent."

The effect of his statement seemed to reverberate throughout the room. Surely it had crossed their minds before, but that was the first time anyone had actually suggested it. Knockout staying at the base... permanently?!

Ratchet was the first to speak again, "Optimus you _can't_ be serious." he grumbled. "I mean, putting him up for a few days is one thing, but-"

"_BEEPbzzzzzwhirrrrrr_... _boopwhooooZZZZZRRRT_"

"It's hardly worth having an extra soldier around if we can't trust him!"

"Trust is something to be earned." Optimus said.

"Well he already went out of his way to save Jack." Arcee added. "And he came out of the base just now to help save _us._"

"That's not enough to be convincing! Both times it was in his own self-interest to aid us!" Ratchet retorted, "Besides, do you really expect a _Decepticon _to abide by our rules?"

"If we do not even offer that opportunity for redemption, _we_ would be the ones neglecting our code." Optimus continued, "If he is willing to follow our customs and provide us with the intel he has at his disposal, then I see no reason for requiring his stay be only temporary." Optimus paused and turned his gaze to Knockout, who had been notably quiet during the whole exchange. "Of course, the ultimate decision is yours to make... Are you interested in joining the Autobots, Knockout?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Thoughts and criticisms are encouraged and appreciated.**

* * *

Scrap. He should have just kept his big mouth shut.

It was too late though. The question had been posed. Now Knockout would have to actually make this decision. Did he actually want to stay and... join the Autobots? The very notion had him in hysterics not a week ago when Jack had suggested it, but now... Oh frag. He was actually _considering_ this!

Knockout kept his focus on the floor, avoiding the optics of the 'Bots around him for a long moment until he spoke up: "...And if I say no?" He finally looked up meeting Optimus' gaze. "Does that mean you'll just boot me out?"

"I realize the dangers you would face being on your own." Optimus replied, "Megatron's intentions for capturing you are very clear... However, should you wish to remain here under our protection, I _will_ require you to meet these expectations. While you have not yet given us reason to believe you still owe loyalty to the Decepticons, having you join our ranks gives some assurance to me that you can be trusted to work with my Autobots..." The Prime lowered his helm, keeping his focus very intently on Knockout. "Their safety is my highest priority. Should you choose to reject my offer and strike out on your own, you would do well to remember that."

Knockout continued staring up at Optimus, but only for a second. He very quickly broke away from the gaze. Prime had one _intense_ glare. He wasn't joking around about the safety of his Autobots thing.

...But the question still stood. Did Knockout want to join the Autobots? Well the Autobots were all there, and their optics were fixed firmly on him as they waited to hear his decision... so what _was_ his decision?

Well that was a bit difficult, because he didn't really _believe_ in the Autobots. There were only fiveof them on this planet, anyway! He had always figured it was just a matter of time before the Decepticons snuffed the rest of them out. So he wasn't too keen on climbing aboard a sinking ship... But wasn't any ship better than no ship? Especially since the 'Cons had it out for him now. It would be nearly impossible to stay out of their clutches without any other support. And Optimus did said he was protective of his Autobots... so if Knockout were _one_ of them-

But FRAG. These were the _Autobots._ The very same ones he had spent millenniums fighting against with the Decepticons. The ones who had slaughtered countless comrades of his. The ones who had perpetuated a broken system back on Cybertron.

But did that even matter anymore? What was done was done. Cybertron was long gone and all the petty politics along with it. So what it ultimately boiled down to was what was more important to Knockout at that moment? His Decepticon ideals or his survival?

Well, that was hardly even a question.

With some effort Knockout pushed himself up onto his pedes, and, keeping his expression very stern, raised his optics again to meet Optimus'.

"Prime-" he extended a servo out to him, "I accept your conditions... I'll... become an Autobot."

Prime took Knockout's servo in his own and gave a short nod, "I'm glad." he said, "There's much you need to learn before-"

"ARE YOU _KIDDING_ ME?!"

The attention in the room quickly turned over to where Miko was standing on the platform next to Bulkhead- her face was contorted with rage as her scream interrupted Optimus Prime. She released one of her hands from the white-knuckled grip she had on the railing and raised her finger to point it accusingly at Knockout.

"He is NOT an Autobot!" she continued, "He's a _Decepticon_! And you're just gonna let him waltz in here and pretend he's one of us?"

Bulkhead leaned in, trying to cup his servo around Miko and pull her away from the others, "Uh hey, kiddo let's-"

"NO!" Miko shoved his servo away, not actually moving him at all but pushing herself backwards in the process. "He CAN'T stay here. Not after everything he's done!" She turned away and continued forward, sliding down the ladder and running over towards the Autobots. "Don't you remember when he electrocuted Optimus at that museum? Or when he tried to snuff out Jack and Bee and then kidnapped that Vince kid? How about the time he nearly cut off Bulkhead's _head_?! Remember that? BECAUSE I DO!"

Optimus bent down and reached out to the human, "Miko, as Autobots we-"

"Scrap that!" Miko interrupted, glaring up at the Prime. "You think HE cares about your freakin' Autobot code?! The second he sets catches wind of something better he's gonna take off and sell us out!" Then she whirled around and set her glare on Knockout, "And whattya think is gonna happen when you take him out next time and his _boyfriend_ shows up? You think he'll still be on our side when has to choose between us and Breakdown?!"

Knockout felt that familiar jolt through his spark at the name. He had been matching Miko's angry glare until that moment, but he quickly dropped his gaze. When he spoke again he was quiet, "No, that's..." he paused, straightening his posture and crossing his arms across his chassis. "-not an issue." he continued, his voice sounding forcibly lighter than a moment before. "Breakdown was terminated months ago."

"What?" Miko turned quickly over to Bulkhead, "You didn't tell me that-"

"I didn't know!" Bulkhead raised his servos quickly to interrupt her, then looked up to Knockout and the Autobots. "Honestly, it wasn't me."

"I know." Knockout said, his tone becoming dark again. "Trust me. If you _did_ then I wouldn't be here right now." He looked down and away. "It was Airachnid. Just before she turned traitor and ran."

"What?!" Knockout glanced back over at Miko, a little puzzled, as she continued to whine, "Breakdown is... he's gone? Because of _Airachnid_?!"

"Yes." he said, raising one optic ridge. "...I'm a little surprised you car-"

"But Breakdown was YOUR nemesis!" Miko had turned back to Bulkhead, "And he went and got himself scrapped by someone else?! I mean, _you_ were supposed to-"

"_Why you little-!_" Knockout clenched his servos tightly, his optics blazing as he glared down at the human. His mouth hung open another moment as he tried to come up with the most horrid name he could think of... but nothing that came to mind was quite vile enough for this wretched little human.

Before Knockout could manage to piece his sentence together, Arcee interjected. "MIKO!" She stepped over and scooped the human up into her servos.

"HEY! What're you-?"

Arcee held her carefully and strode quickly towards the inner hallway, taking her out of the room. "I think it's time you and me had a little chat about _sensitivity._" she said as she left.

Knockout continued to glower after them as they passed into the hallway and out of sight. If he was going to have to put up with that little girl and her horrendous attitude much longer... Well, it crossed his mind that he could've made a mistake accepting Prime's offer.

Though Optimus seemed to have anticipated his thought and pulled his attention back. "My apologies for Miko." Knockout turned his gaze away from the hall's entrance and looked back up at the Prime. "She is young and rather... opinionated. I will speak with her as well."

Knockout just grumbled quietly in response and gingerly sat back on the medical table, gripping the edges roughly in a meager attempt to ebb his anger. It wasn't helping.

"Ratchet will see to your wounds-" Optimus continued, "And once you are properly repaired we can see about recording any Decepticon intelligence you may have. We will also begin teaching you the Autobot Code as soon as possible."

"Sounds delightful..." Knockout grumbled.

Optimus nodded shortly and turned to exit into the hallway, presumably to go after Arcee and Miko. Ratchet watched him go for a moment, then turned back to Knockout. Knockout met his gaze and they exchanged a rather tense glare for just a moment. But Ratchet broke away and headed over to his supply storage to fetch the tools he needed, all the while grumbling irritably to himself.

Knockout turned his gaze instead to Bumblebee. His doorwings drooped slightly and he quickly looked away. "_beeeeeezzzzzzzooop..._" he said, pointing after Optimus. After a few small hesitant steps in that direction, he turned and ran after the Prime. As Knockout watched Bee scurry across the room, his optics met with Bulkhead's as the scout passed him.

He quickly looked away. Yeah, Knockout was _definitely_ having second thoughts about this whole join the Autobots thing now... What would Breakdown have had to say about this? He was sitting not fifty feet from Bulkhead, the bumbling Wrecker his partner had so despised, and he had just pledged loyalty to _Optimus Prime_? It sounded like the set up for a bad joke. But there he was. It was all true, and the worst part was that it made sense... the sense was a bit weird and indirect but still...

"Hey uh..."

Knockout looked up again.

"We didn't exactly get along or anything..." Bulkhead was looking over at Knockout, rubbing the back of his helm uncertainly. "But um... sorry to hear about Breakdown."

"No you're not." Knockout narrowed his optics, "If anything you're probably just upset _you_ weren't the one to terminate him like your little pet wanted."

"Well yeah... I mean NO! No no I didn't mean it like..." Bulkhead shrugged, "Well I know there was no love lost between the two of us and _I'm_ not gonna miss 'im but... I guess I just meant I'm sorry for _you._"

"I'm not interested in fake sympathy." he turned away, crossing his arms across his chassis in a huff. "And I'm especially not interested in discussing this with the likes of _you_."

However, Bulkhead wouldn't be so easily dissuaded from the topic. "Yeah but if you actually _are_ gonna be staying here I figure we may as well get all this scrap out in the open so we can work it out."

"There's nothing to work out." Knockout said, still not looking up.

"Well I think there is." Bulkhead stood up and took a few steps closer to Knockout, "Optimus thinks you've got the bearings to be an Autobot and, whether I agree or not, he's gonna expect us to make nice... And if Optimus wants that then I'll do it... It's just that me and Breakdown-" he paused, "Well our history is a bit-"

"Ugh. Please spare me whatever fanciful story you have prepared about your falling out." Knockout turned towards Bulkhead again, but still kept his optics low not meeting the other 'Bot's, "I already know _all_ about you two."

"Oh... So you know about-?"

"Mm yes. The construction team, the Wreckers, the Stunticons... He filled me in on everything right up until I found him half dismantled in the care of that one-eyed abomination..." Knockout narrowed his optics slightly, "I believe it was you and your Wreckers' handiwork that landed him there, in fact."

"Uhh yeah. Yeah see, that's what I mean." Bulkhead continued, "If we're gonna have to work together like actual team mates then there's a lotta history we'd haveta put behind us... Don'tcha think maybe we should talk about that?"

"Breakdown was my partner but now he's _dead_." Knockout spat out the word like an insult. "If I wasn't prepared to put the past behind me I wouldn't have said yes to Prime in the first place. And apparently you'll do whatever he tells you whether you like it or not." Knockout shrugged and turned away again. "So there's nothing left to say."

Bulkhead glared down at him for a moment longer. "_Fine_." he turned away with a frustrated groan and took a few steps towards the hallway entrance-

"Although..."

Bulkhead paused to look back. "There was that one incident..." the medic hadn't looked up but he continued to speak, "He wouldn't tell high command the whole story, but Breakdown kept no secrets from _me_-" Finally, Knockout lifted his helm and met Bulkhead's optics, "And, for reasons he was never able to explain, he said that _you _were the one who rescued him from those techie humans..."

"Ohh right..." Bulkhead began rubbing the back of his helm again. "Yeah... Yeah I helped bust Breakdown outta that MECH facility awhile back, but uh... I was just... I mean, Optimus didn't want those guys to go dissecting _any_ Cybertronians- not even 'Cons."

"Hmm." Knockout hesitated but then continued, "I... suppose I should thank you then."

"Oh... really?"

"Yes. Breakdown told me what those slagging humans were doing to him. If he had stayed much longer... Who knows what they would have done with his parts and-" Knockout's expression wrinkled in disgust, "_Ugh_. I can hardly imagine a worse fate."

"Well uh... you're welcome?" Bulkhead shrugged his shoulders. "Okay... so this might be starting off on a better foot, yeah?"

"I suppose so." Knockout shrugged back at him, "And you also stayed to fight rather than just let those Vehicons take me in... So thanks for that too."

"Well... I couldn't very well face the rest of the team if I'd pulled something as cowardly as _that._ What would Optimus have said?"

"Ah. Just following Optimus' lead again, huh?" Knockout mumbled, "Is there an article in that code of yours that just says '_What would Prime do_?'"

"Haha. Very funny." Bulkhead crossed his arms across his chassis, "No of course there's not... I mean- at least I don't _think_ so..."

As Bulkhead finished this last sentence Optimus Prime came back into the main room closely followed by Arcee. The femme had Miko standing in her servos. The human had an angry pout on her face as she glared down at her feet. Arcee went immediately up to Knockout and held Miko out in front of her.

"Sooo? What do you have to say, Miko?"

The human let out an angry puff of air and kicked her foot gently on Arcee's digit, "...I shouldn'ta said what I said before... at least not _in front _of you I guess." she mumbled, refusing to make eye contact with him.

Knockout stared at her for a moment then averted his gaze and growled, "Fine. Whatever..."

Despite the tension that lingered after their short exchange, Arcee seemed satisfied by it and turned around, handing Miko off to Bulkhead. "There, see? That wasn't so hard."

Miko only responded by shooting a vicious glare back at Knockout as she stepped into Bulkhead's servo, which the medic was more than willing to return.

"Are we done with all the pleasantries?" Ratchet interjected suddenly, returning from his storage area toting a loaded toolbox. "Because I'd like to get this over with."

Knockout couldn't conceal a smirk. It was hard to stay in a bad mood with Ratchet acting so grumpy; the old mech was just too amusing. "Awfully eager aren't you, doctor?" Knockout goaded him on even more.

"Eager is _hardly_ the word I would use." Ratchet snapped. He dropped his toolbox next to the table and placed his servo on Knockout's shoulder with a light push to encourage him to lie back. "Come on, I haven't got all day."

"While you are being repaired-" Knockout looked up as Optimus approached him and held out a single datapad for him, "I have downloaded the entirety of the Autobot Code onto this datapad so you may begin reviewing it." Knockout reached up and took the pad into his servo. Optimus continued, "As long as you are staying with us we will expect you to follow this code to the letter. Let me know if you have any questions concerning the contents."

Knockout looked down and saw the datapad was already powered up and the first few lines were on the display.

_The Autobot Code_

_Prelude:_

_Freedom is the right of all sentient beings..._

Ahh. He could already tell this read was going to be riveting.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry this took me so long. I struggled somewhat in getting the last bit just right- Bulkhead is not one of my favorite characters, but I still think I managed to do him some justice :) So Enjoy!  
**

**Thoughts and criticisms are encouraged and appreciated**

* * *

_Section 19, Subsection 84: _

_On the subject of identifying and collecting fallen soldiers; It is the stance of the Autobot Council that the frames of all those whose sparks are extinguished in the name of the Autobot cause be treated with the utmost respect. Each soldier's preference for the handling of their frame (ie. melted, scrapped, broken down for parts, ect.) is to be coded into their mainframe to be accessed at the time of-_

Knockout lowered the datapad and slumped back in his seat, "Uuuugh. Frag! I don't know how much more I can take..."

"Oh, well since you're giving up-" Ratchet looked up from his work station, "Should I fire up the groundbridge?"

Knockout shot a quick glare over at the other medic, but then raised the pad again and groaned, "Don't chastise me for complaining. It's the one joy I have left."

"Well I'm not interested in hearing you whine like a sparkling." Ratchet looked back down at his tools, "So keep it to yourself."

Letting out a long, exasperated vent, Knockout finally went back to reading. He found himself just skimming the next few subsections. Whatever. He doubted that even the Autobots themselves knew the entire code, so he wasn't stressing about it; not like Prime was going to give him a quiz or something.

Three days had passed since he'd accepted Prime's offer and so far he'd been keeping his end of the deal. He'd spent the entire length of time either reading the slagging code or recording data... it was so very dull. He wondered if he'd ever get the chance to drive out in the open again without worrying about being blown up. In fact, he could hardly remember the last time he'd had a good race... it would be a relief when he finally got to _do _something rather than sit around all day.

As his thoughts started to wander again, the main computer let off a loud tone. Ratchet turned and looked at the screen before pressing a command on the console. "Agent Fowler. Thank you for getting back to me."

"_Sure thing, Ratchet._" Fowler's voice came from the speakers as a picture of him appeared on the display. "_Sorry I couldn't take your call earlier, it's been... hectic over here to say the least. So what have you got for me?_"

"What I have is twelve different locations of Decepticon mining activity." Ratchet pulled up a file on the computer, "Four of which are... Well, they're _close_ to human civilian populations. It shouldn't be much cause for concern: the Decepticons don't seem to be very interested in humans... but I wanted to notify you anyway."

"_And these locations, you got 'em from-?_"

"Knockout provided the information."

"_Ahh, of course. Prime said he's 'switched sides' right?_ ..._You sure you can trust him?_"

"So far the intel he's provided hasbeen genuine... and _helpful_ as well."

"Careful, Ratchet." Knockout smirked, looking up from the pad again. "It almost sounded like you were saying something nice about me."

Ratchet only gave an annoyed glance back at him, then returned to his conversation. "The team has been able to confirm that five of the locations are accurate, and they are looking into the other seven."

"_Looking in to?_" Fowler repeated,"_Does that mean you're taking them out?_"

"No, no. Some of them are far too large for us to interfere with. Besides that, they are staffed by mining class Decepticons- not soldiers." Ratchet continued, "And if we started attacking their miners the Decepticons would no doubt want to retaliate... Perhaps by attacking _human_ civilians... No, for now we are just ensuring that the mines are actually there in case we _do _find reason to take action against them."

"_Alright, since you put it that way, it's probably best if _we _don't take action either. We'll just keep this info under file, then... Thanks for keeping me updated, Doc._"

"Of course, Agent Fowler. I'll let you get back to it then."

"_Oh, before I go I should give you a heads up-_" Fowler paused, the sound of some shuffling paper coming through the connection, "_I mean, it's nothing certain yet. The boys are still investigating, but there have been a series of _instances_ at military hubs and weapon depots these past few weeks. We think they may be connected somehow._"

"How does it concern us? Are the Decepticons involved?"

"_No, no not 'Cons. Actually, we have some reason to believe it might involve MECH._"

Knockout's helm perked up at the name.

"MECH?" Ratchet sounded doubtful, "We haven't seen any activity from them in months..."

"_That's why we're not sure if it__'__s really them._" Fowler continued,"_I just want you lot to be careful- I know they're interested in Cybertronian tech. So just keep an eye out for anything suspicious. I'll let you know when we get more information._"

Ratchet thanked Fowler and cut off their connection. When he turned around to go back to work he saw Knockout had sat up and was looking at him very seriously.

"Those MECH humans..." he began, "what do you know about them?"

"Don't concern yourself with that." Ratchet waved his question away and picked up his tools again. "Just worry about reading up on the Code for now."

"I'm a lot more interested in hearing about these humans who apparently want to dissect us," Knockout insisted, "and since they got pretty close before-"

Ratchet looked up again, interrupting him, "Oh I see. So this is about... Well, you're out of luck." he said, "Their leader, Silas, was killed a number of weeks ago by Agent Fowler and Optimus."

"Prime killed a human?"

"Well no. Not directly... he was crushed to death when a roof caved in." Ratchet looked back down to his work station, "Regardless, we hit them pretty hard in that last encounter. It's unlikely that they would recover so quickly if at all. So don't get any farfetched ideas about revenge."

"Hrmm..." Knockout grumbled and slouched back again. "No need to be so terse. What's wrong with wanting a little revenge?"

"If you'd keep reading you might find out." Ratchet snapped without looking up.

Rather than argue, Knockout let out a resigned vent. He was about to look back down to the datapad when Bulkhead and Bumblebee came zooming into the room through the hallway entrance.

"Alright!" Miko leapt from Bulkhead's passenger seat and slammed his door shut behind her, "I missed having youpick me up from school, Bulk!"

Bulkhead let out a low chuckle as he transformed, "Well I've missed picking you up!"

Behind them Raf quietly hopped out of Bee's backseat. The scout promptly transformed into his robot mode and approached Ratchet.

"We should celebrate you getting back on your feet again!" Miko said as she practically leapt up the ladder to the platform. She ran over to the couch and picked up the television remote, "There's a monster truck rally on today! We should watch it and try to reenact some of the stunts in the gym later-"

"Err... Don't they warn _against_ trying that stuff at home?" Bulkhead interrupted.

"Pshh, those warnings are for_ humans_." Miko waved his concern away, "They don't apply to Cybertronians. Especially not Wreckers!"

"I'm afraid that will have to wait," Ratchet said. Miko looked over to him. The medic had moved over to the groundbridge and was fiddling with the controls. "There are still seven mine coordinates that need to be confirmed, and I'd rather not send Bumblebee by himself."

"Oh..." Miko returned her gaze to Bulkhead, now looking a bit worried. "You're not gonna be fighting 'Cons, are you Bulk? I mean picking me up from school is one thing, but-"

"Don't worry, Miko." Ratchet turned around to face her. "This is strictly reconnaissance. We just want to observe, to verify that the mine is there and still active." He then looked to Bulkhead. "There is to be _no_ engaging in combat with the miners. Understand?"

"Alright I got it, Ratch. No fighting!"

"Good. Now you two get going." Ratchet pulled the lever and the groundbridge whirred to life. "I'm sending you a few kliks away from the location just in case- We don't know how far out their activity stretches from the base coordinates. Let me know when you need a return bridge."

"_Bzzeeeboooowhirrr!_" Bumblebee offered a thumbs up, transformed, and headed into the portal.

"You go ahead and start the monster trucks without me." Bulkhead smiled at Miko, then turned to the groundbridge. "I'll be back before you know it." With that he transformed and zoomed through the bridge after Bumblebee.

Miko frowned as the light faded from the machine and the portal disappeared. "Hrmm. Yeah. Okay..." she moaned, kicking her foot lightly against the railing. "It's not as fun watching alone though..." She looked up as Raf came up the ramp to the platform. "Hey Raf! You'll watch the rally with me, yeah?"

"Actually, Miko... I was going to catch up on a bit of coding while Bee's out." Raf shrugged his shoulders.

Miko sighed dramatically. "Well you're no fun!" She hesitated for a moment then looked to Ratchet-

"No."

"I didn't even ask-"

"NO."

"Urrrrrrgh!" Miko groaned and spun around, stomping back towards the couch. As she did, she paused and looked over at Knockout across the room. He seemed to sense her gaze and turned his optics towards her. There was a brief moment of them sharing a tense glare, but then Miko turned away. "Pshh. Yeah right..." she grumbled as she fell onto the couch.

* * *

As they exited the groundbridge, Bulkhead and Bumblebee found themselves driving deep within a forested area. Luckily, the trees were tall and somewhat far apart so they could easily maneuver between them as they drove on.

"You got the coordinates, Bee?" Bulkhead called out as they drove

"_BzzoopbuzzEEP._"

"Alright, you lead the way then."

"B_ZZZzzz!_" Bumblebee replied, and zoomed ahead. After going about a half a mile Bumblebee slowed down and transformed back into his robot mode. "_ZOOooopwhirrrrrbuzz_."

Bulkhead transformed as well and stepped up next to him, "Good idea. Less likely to hear us comin' on foot."

The two continued onward for a while, finally slowing as they headed up a slight hill. "_Boopbeepzzzrrr_." Bumblebee buzzed quietly, pointing up ahead. Ducking behind some trees and underbrush, the two 'Bots peeked over the top of the hill they were on. The other side was a sharp incline into a clearing walled off on three sides. The only way in besides climbing the rocks was a path leading back into the forest to the left. Along the right side, a gaping hole marked the entrance of the mine they were looking for.

"That must be it." Bulkhead said quietly. "How do we tell if there's still 'Cons in there?"

"_ZoopbuzzWHIRRRRR_. _BEEPboopzzzZZZZrrrr?_"

"Urgh... so we just have to wait then." Bulkhead rested his chin in his servo, "Scrap. Who knows how long before one of 'em comes outta-?"

Suddenly Bulkhead was cut off by a ground-shaking explosion!

The two Autobots instinctively ducked lower. They continued watching as a small plume of teal flames erupted from the entrance of the mine. It was quiet for another moment until Bulkhead finally spoke up again. "What was that?" he whispered.

"_Bzzzoobuzz?_"

Before Bulkhead could respond the sound of blaster fire met their audio receptors. "That don't sound like an accident to me." Bulkhead grumbled, leaning over the edge a bit more. "What's goin' on down there? Who could they possibly be-?" As he spoke, a lone miner suddenly stumbled out from the entrance. The 'Con ran for the trees, nearly falling as he scrambled forward. He only made it about halfway there, however, as a rain of red blaster fire came from the mine entrance striking him in the back and bringing him down.

A Vehicon soldier hurried out of the entrance and up to the miner. Rather than offering help, he kicked the miner onto his back and planted a pede on his chest. The terrified miner lifted his servos in surrender as the Vehicon shoved his blaster into the smaller 'Con's face.

"S-stop! Don't- NO PLEASE!"

It did nothing to deter his attacker- The Vehicon ignored the pleas and fired!

Stepping off the smoldering frame of the miner, the 'Con looked towards the trees and shouted: "Mine secured! Ready for the procurement team."

A moment after he'd spoken, a chorus of engines could be heard from the nearby trees and a group of trucks and jeeps equipped with turrets and missile launchers rolled forward into the clearing.

"Wait a minute... is that-?" Bulkhead started to ask, but his thoughts were confirmed just as he was about to finish. "-MECH!" The vehicles had rolled to a stop and humans garbed in that familiar black, goggled uniform had jumped out. He and Bumblebee watched as two more Vehicons exited the mine entrance, carrying armfuls of energon cubes. The humans opened the backs of the trucks and the Vehicons began loading the cubes into them.

"What's going on? Has MECH got some 'Cons on their side or something?" Bulkhead glanced over at Bee who merely shrugged in response.

"NO! NO PUT ME DOWN!"

The Autobots looked back into the clearing just as another 'Con came out of the mine with a Vehicon and an Eradicon slung over each shoulder. Bulkhead's jaw dropped as he recognized him-

"Breakdown?!"

He tossed down the two Decepticons- The Vehicon laid where he fell, already offline. The Eradicon was online but one of his legs was badly crushed and leaking energon. He started trying to slide away, but the two of the standing Vehicons held him still. He tried to struggle but it was doing him no good. "Let go! STOP! Breakdown, wh-why are you doing this?!"

Bulkhead and Bumblebee watched in stunned silence as the group of humans hurried over. One of them fired a canister at the Eradicon's back which stuck and shot a powerful electric charge through him causing the 'Con to collapse. They gathered around as Breakdown shifted the Eradicon over, pointing at his wings, apparently speaking but the 'Bots couldn't quite make it out.

But Bulkhead wasn't interested in what was going on anymore. He had the tree next to him in a powerful grip as he tried to hold back his anger. "That slaggin' two-faced 'Con!" he grumbled, "I shoulda known he was lyin' about Breakdown bein' scrapped!"

Bumblebee reached over and placed his servo on Bulkhead's, "_Bzzzzooop!_"

"Whattya mean '_we don't know that?_' He's standin' right there!" Bulkhead said, still speaking in hushed tones. "And I'm about one klik away from getting' down there and-"

"_BOOOPZZRR! whirrrzzzzdooZZZOOoop_"

Bulkhead let out an angry growl. "Yeah I remember..." he let out an irritated vent and continued, "Fine. Let's call Ratchet... I don't know what's goin' on here, but-"

Once again, before Bulkhead could finish he was cut off by an explosion. This one, however, was directly behind them! The two Autobots were suddenly flung forward by the force of it and went tumbling down the rocky hill into the clearing!

Bulkhead groaned and looked up after he rolled to a stop. Up on top of the hill where they'd just been, another MECH truck had pulled up. Scrap! They should have been paying closer attention!

"_BEEPBOOZZZWHIRRR!_" Bulkhead felt Bumblebee grab his arm and try to yank him up. He looked around and saw the MECH agents had hurried over and were aiming their electric canons at them!

"Let's get outta here!" Bulkhead quickly scrambled to his feet and made a dash for the trees. Bumblebee whirred his agreement and hurried after him. Two canisters just barely missed him, but unfortunately a third found Bumblebee in the side. He let out a distressed whirr as it released its debilitating charge into his frame and he collapsed.

"BEE!" Bulkhead whirled around and went back for the scout, but hesitated as the canons were quickly trained on him. Rather than stand around and wait for them to fire, he transformed and charged at the humans. Luckily, they decided to jump out of the way rather than fire.

He wasn't about to leave Bee behind, but he couldn't very well drag the scout out of there with these guys firing on him... he was going to have to try and fight them off. And he knew just where he wanted to start. Bulkhead swerved around and drove straight towards Breakdown.

He transformed and leapt forward, pulling his servo back to strike. Though, rather than meet his attack, Breakdown stepped aside and Bulkhead stumbled past him. Huh. He hadn't been expecting that. Usually when he attacked Breakdown, he meet force with force. Bulkhead didn't waste any time dwelling on that, though. He quickly spun back around and made another swing for Breakdown's frame. A swing that was also dodged.

This was weird. It wasn't what he was used to. As he continued trying to land a blow on the 'Con, he was met with more ducks and side-steps rather than blocks or counter-attacks. It was... _frustrating_.

"Come on, Breakdown!" Bulkhead transformed out his wrecking ball, "I'm not here to _dance_ with ya! Fight back!"

Bulkhead swung his arm forward. This time, however, Breakdown didn't dodge him. Instead he reached up with both his servos and caught the attack. Bulkhead tried to draw back, but he was holding fast.

"Ha ha ha!" Bulkhead felt a chill run through his frame at the laughter. That was... that was _not _Breakdown's laughter. But it was familiar. Whose voice was that? He looked up and met the yellow optics with his own. "Well, if you insist!"

Bulkhead was suddenly thrown backwards as Breakdown lifted his leg, giving a powerful kick square in the Autobot's chassis. He let out a quiet groan as he pushed himself up again.

Breakdown stepped closer, glaring down at the Autobot with his servos on his hips. "You're pretty strong, Autobot. What a shame you're such a clumsy fighter." He continued to speak in that foreign voice. "But don't worry. We'll soon be able to put that powerful frame of yours to some better use."

Suddenly Bulkhead recognized the voice. The realization made him draw back in horror- "_Silas_?!"

The only response he received was an electric canister latching onto his chassis and shocking his systems. He fell back against the ground as his visuals began to dim and finally faded out.


	7. Chapter 7

**Didn't take me a month this time. So proud of myself. I mean I did have a bit of a cliffhanger last time, so it's only fair.**

**Thoughts and criticisms are encouraged and appreciated.**

* * *

"Welcome back you two. How did it go?"

Arcee and Optimus stepped through the groundbridge and into the base. "We found the mine alright." Arcee said as she continued forward. "Big one too. You could see the energon sprouting from the ground a whole 2 kliks outside their work area."

"A large operation, then?" Ratchet continued, powering down the bridge. "And you didn't have any trouble staying hidden?"

"The majority of the work appeared to be taking place underground," Optimus replied, "and we were fortunate that the surrounding patrols were confined to the area around the entrance."

"This mine might be a good one to slip into and snatch a bunch of processed energon," Arcee added. "Place that big, who knows if they'll even notice?"

"Oh they'll notice, alright." The Autobots looked over as Knockout spoke up.

"What makes you say that?" Arcee asked.

Knockout lowered his datapad and met her gaze. "The mines are strictly maintained- _especially_ the big ones. Processed energon is accounted for to the cube, and squad leaders send in hourly status reports to the 'Cons' resident bureaucrat."

"Hmm..." Arcee crossed her arms across her chassis, "I see. So if there's too much missing, they'd get suspicious and probably bulk up the security, making it harder to sneak off with _anything_..."

"It might be more prudent to collect the surrounding crystals and process them ourselves," Ratchet said.

"You _could_ do that." Knockout lifted his datapad again to continue reading. "Though if you were careful about it and took just the right amount, they might be inclined to blame the miners instead. Some of the less sensible ones have been known to sneak extra energon."

Optimus spoke up again, tilting his helm at Knockout. "It seems as though we would benefit greatly if we better understood the Decepticon ranks themselves."

"You want me to write about the _Vehicons?_" Knockout rolled his optics. "Ugh. But they're such tedious creatures... Honestly. I'm surprised their organizer hasn't thrown themself off the ship already." Despite his griping, Knockout placed the datapad in his servo down and picked up a second one next to him to start writing. "Just to warn you, this might be the most mind-numbing report you'll ever read."

"Ha! I doubt that." Arcee laughed and stepped over towards the hallway entrance, starting to leave. "_You've_ never read a report by Ultra Magnus."

"Regardless of how mundane it may seem, we appreciate your efforts, Knockout." Optimus cut in. "The information you have provided so far has great value. You have been quite helpful."

Knockout gave a knowing smirk, but didn't look up from his datapad, "That's me, alright. Helpful to a fault." His tone obviously implied he was teasing.

Just as Knockout finished this sentence, the computer let off a three toned beep. A moment later, the attention in the room flew over to the screen as a long, distressed _BEEEEP_ came through the speakers. Arcee spun around and ran back into the room. Raf pushed his laptop off his legs and hurried over to the platform railing. The only one who seemed to be unsure of what was happening was Miko.

She pulled her gaze off the television and looked over, very confused, as Ratchet rushed over to the console.

"Bumblebee!" Ratchet shouted, pressing down on the communicator. "What's wrong?!"

"_BZZEEPBOOZZ!wwWWRRRZZOOPdeeeDZZEEPDOOboopBEEPwhrrr !_"

"Wha- S-slow down, Bee! I can't understand you!" Ratchet tried to speak over the scout. Bumblebee stopped so as to let Ratchet speak, however he continued to let off a slow, quiet whirr somewhat reminiscent of a whine. "Just stay calm! I'll send you a groundbri-"

"_BEEPboozzZZRRR!_"

"You _can't_?" Ratchet repeated, "Are you injured? Do you require backup?!"

"_BEEP!_"

"I'm locking on to your coordinates now." Ratchet turned to the groundbridge controls and began typing in commands. Behind him, Miko ran up and stood beside Raf, the both of them looking worried up at the computer screen.

"What's going on?" Miko called out, "Is Bulkhead with you? Is he okay?"

A shaky whirr came as the response. Raf looked up at Miko sadly, "He... he says he doesn't know."

"What do you _mean _you don't know?!" She shouted in a rage, "You were supposed to stay together! What happened?!"

"Miko! Not now!" Arcee shot a quick glare over at the human, then turned quickly back to Ratchet as the medic reached for the groundbridge activation.

"Starting up the bridge _now__,_" Ratchet said pulling the lever."Hang in there, Bumblebee; the team's on their way!"

Optimus and Arcee quickly made for the portal, but Arcee paused and glanced back. "Knockout, come on! We might need you on this one," she called.

"What?! Whoa, hang on-" Knockout held up his servos defensively. "I have no problem being helpful with datapads, but if you think I'm going to keep acting as 'Con bait-"

"You're not coming as _bait._" Arcee interrupted him. "You're coming as backup. Now get your aft in gear; Bee might need a medic!" With that, she spun back around and ran after Optimus through the groundbridge.

Knockout hesitated for another moment, but after letting out an angry huff through his vents, he stood and hurried after her.

As he came through the portal, he saw they had waited for him on the other side. Once they caught sight of him following, they turned, weapons at the ready, and continued forward. Almost immediately they found themselves at the top of a sharp, rocky incline. Looking down into the ravine, they spotted a yellow figure laying against the opposite end of the clearing below.

"Bumblebee!" Arcee called out to the scout and he looked up. He raised one arm slightly to wave to them, but then let it fall back to his side, exhausted.

The three of them slid down the rocky slope, being sure to stay on the lookout and keeping their weapons at the ready. Arcee and Optimus hurried over to Bumblebee, but Knockout slowed and took a long look around the clearing. There were numerous tire tracks leading in and out of the forest to their left, and just in front of the mine entrance to the right, six Decepticon miners were lying face down, all lined up in a row. In fact, from the markings in the dirt, it looked as though Bumblebee had been next to them, but he had dragged himself away... Whatever this was, it sure didn't look like it had been a fight.

Knockout was pulled out of his thoughts by Optimus calling him. "Knockout! Bumblebee requires medical attention!"

Knockout tore his gaze away from the offlined miners and hurried over to the Autobots. Arcee had one servo on Bee's shoulder to calm him, but she kept her optics trained on the mine entrance. "Bumblebee, what happened to Bulkhead?" she asked. She was trying to speak gently but she was clearly worried.

"_bzzzzEEEEPOOOooooo…_" Bumblebee beeped sadly, then brought a servo up to his helm and let out a quiet whirr.

"Dizzy, eh?" Knockout knelt down and took Bumblebee's chin in his servo, shifting his helm up to get a better look at his face. "Hmm. And your optics look a bit dim... There isn't any apparent external damage, though. What do your internal readouts say?"

Bumblebee brushed Knockout's servo off and turned his helm away and started to whine. "_WhrrEEEP!_ _Wrrrzzooop..._"

"Ratchet isn't here. _I _am." Knockout tried to reclaim Bee's chin, but the scout pushed him away again.

"_WHRRRRZZOOOOOOP!_"

Knockout gave a frustrated groan, then looked back up to Optimus. The Prime glanced from Bumblebee to Knockout and back again, then brought a servo to the comm on his audio receptor. "Ratchet, we require the groundbridge. Bumblebee needs to return to base."

A moment later, the portal opened up just in front of the group.

"Knockout, you escort Bumblebee back." Optimus instructed, "Arcee and I will remain here and investigate; hopefully we will find some clue to Bulkhead's whereabouts."

"You're the boss." Knockout said flatly. With a bit of help from Arcee, he hauled Bumblebee up onto his pedes and helped support the scout on his shoulder. Bee was leaning very heavily on him, though, and Knockout gave a disgruntled huff as they shuffled through the groundbridge.

Arriving back at the base, they only managed a few steps across the threshold before Bumblebee's legs gave out. Knockout stumbled, trying to keep them both upright, but found himself starting to be pulled down with him. Ratchet hurried over to lend a hand, and the two medics managed to carry Bee to the medical table together.

"Bumblebee!" Ratchet lifted the scout's helm so he was looking into his optics. "Come on, stay with me, now. What happened to you?"

Bee let out a quiet buzz in response.

"You can't remember?"

"He did mention being dizzy," Knockout said. He was brushing off his shoulder and checking for scratches. Once he'd finished he stepped towards Ratchet's medical supplies. "I'll fix up an energon drip. He'll probably be needing it."

Ratchet muttered an agreement and went to pick up his scanner. As he did, he noticed Raf was standing beside his equipment table, looking worried at Bumblebee. "Hey, Ratchet," he mumbled, "can I sit with Bumblebee? I mean, I wouldn't be in the way, would I?"

"Of course not, Rafael." Ratchet smiled and bent down, allowing Raf to step into his hand, then lifted the human up onto the medical berth. He hopped off and quickly took his place next to Bumblebee's helm where the scout could see him, to which Bee offered an appreciative whirr.

"Now, let's take a look here..." Ratchet mumbled, lifting the scanner to run it over Bumblebee's frame. Once he'd scanned him from helm to pede, Ratchet lifted it to look at the results. It took a moment to process, but when he began reading the output he appeared confused. However, his expression quickly changed to one of concern. He rushed over to where Knockout was just finishing filling a canister with energon. "Knockout, I need that energon _NOW_!" He shouted, snatching it from his servos.

Knockout was slightly taken aback, but just placed his now empty servos on his hips as he watched Ratchet run back over and scramble to hook Bumblebee up to the drip. "_Alright! _Slag, I was going as fast as I could..." he grumbled. "What's the problem?"

"Bumblebee is practically running on fumes!" Ratchet explained as he attached the cables to Bumblebee's chassis. Once the energon started to flow, he looked back over at Knockout. "You should have mentioned that he had spilled _that much_ energon!" he scolded, "I mean, it should have been pretty obvious considering how much-"

"Excuse _you!_" Knockout interrupted. "What kind of medic do you think I am? Of course I would have mentioned it... but there was no spilled energon at the site." Knockout stepped closer, pointing down at Bumblebee's frame. "Besides that, there's hardly a scratch on him. Shouldn't you be trying to find _where_ he bled out from instead of chastising me?"

Ratchet grumbled something insulting under his breath, then turned his attention back to Bumblebee and started looking him over for injuries. "Bee, try to think-" he instructed as he worked. "Do you recall anything at all from what happened? Hopefully that fresh energon will help you process better."

Bumblebee stayed quiet for a moment then just whirred sadly.

"Well, what's the _last _thing you remember?" Raf asked., "Maybe you can try to work your way up from there."

"_BZZZzzzoooop..._"

"Okay, so you found the mine," Raf continued, patting Bee's shoulder reassuringly. "Is there anything else? You don't have to think of your visuals first, try thinking of some other senses too."

"_zzzzzzoooo... bzzz... BEEP! BOOZZUURRRRWHRRR!_"

"An explosion?" Ratchet repeated. "Were you and Bulkhead caught up in it?"

"_BuzzzZZZZ. Whrrrrrzzzzzoooo_."

"What do you mean? Did you witness an accident in the mine?"

Bumblebee buzzed quietly and shook his head, but suddenly he shot upright, nearly tearing the cable from his chest! "_BEEPBOOZZZWHRRR!_"

"Bumblebee, stay calm!" Ratchet pushed the scout back down. "What are you talking about?"

"_zoopBOOPBEEPwhrr!_" Bumblebee then looked over at Knockout, his expression becoming firm. "_beepZZZZZzzzrrrr._"

"What?" Knockout's optics widened for a moment, but his surprise was almost instantly replaced by anger. "Is that supposed to be a _joke_?!" He shouted. "Well, nobody is laughing!"

Bee just replied with a stern beep.

"What is it?" They all looked down to see Miko had run over to join them. "What did he say?"

"He said... that Breakdown was there." Raf explained.

"NO. He _wasn't__,_" Knockout insisted, folding his arms across his chassis. "He couldn't be. It's not possible... He's just not remembering correctly."

"Bumblebee, are you sure?" Ratchet asked, pausing in his check up on Bee's frame. "Because what you're saying-"

"_WHRRRR!_" Bumblebee interrupted him with an affirmation. Then continued, "_BEEPboopwhhhhhrrrzzZZZZRRrrrtt! ZZZZrrrrrboop._"

"Breakdown was working with MECH?!" Ratchet repeated.

Knockout let out a short laugh, "Well now you _know_ he's making it up," he grumbled. "Honestly. Breakdown and MECH..." He paused for a moment then shook his helm. "No... no that's impossible. You... you were probably just caught up in that explosion you mentioned."

"That doesn't explain the sudden depletion of his energon levels," Ratchet said. "And it doesn't explain _this _either." He continued, pressing his servo against Bumblebee's lower back. The scout let out a distressed beep at the pressure and shifted away.

"What is it?" Raf called, unable to see over Bee's frame.

"There's a puncture wound on his side here," Ratchet replied. "It's small, but it appears as though his energon was siphoned off through it... This could hardly be the work of the Decepticons." The medic paused and stood up straight. "I don't know how, but it appears as though MECH _has_ returned."

"Wait, MECH is back?" Miko asked, "And they're crashing Decepticon mines and draining _living_ bots' fuel? But what for?"

Ratchet looked over to Knockout somewhat accusingly. "Perhaps because they've made friends who run on energon."

"That-!" Knockout began, but then looked away and continued in a mumble. "...That doesn't make any sense... If Breakdown was... but then why wouldn't he...?"

"Regardless of his involvement, this is still highly disturbing news," Ratchet said, moving over to the computer. "It means that Bulkhead could very well be in the clutches of MECH right now. We need to locate him immediately. Hopefully they aren't within any shielded areas yet and we can find his signal."

Miko followed Ratchet and stood back to look up at the screen. "What if they already are?" She demanded. "Then how are we gonna find Bulkhead?!"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Miko." Ratchet glanced down at her as he typed on the console. "I'll check to see if I can't locate him first. _Then_ we can start thinking of alternatives."

It was quiet for another moment as Ratchet finished typing out the command, then the computer let out a quiet tone. A map appeared on the screen as well as a blue beacon indicating Bulkhead's position. The signal was moving, but still traceable.

"Oh good." Ratchet let out a sigh of relief. "We can still locate him."

"Alright, so then call back Arcee and Prime." Knockout took out his electric staff from where it was clipped to his side. "We'll go save him and sort out these MECH characters."

Ratchet glanced back at Knockout as he spoke. "Hmm. Actually..." He looked away again, starting to type out the command to contact Optimus. "It would probably be best if only Arcee and Optimus took on this mission," he mumbled.

"Hold on!" Ratchet felt himself suddenly being pulled away from the controls. He turned back to see Knockout had his servo planted hard on his shoulder and had yanked him backwards. "I'm not going to sit around the base if there's a chance my partner is out there."

Ratchet roughly pushed Knockout away and shot a fierce glare at the medic, "His presence is preciselywhy you should _not_ be on this mission!" He shouted. "You're too close to the situation- you might not be willing to..."

When Ratchet trailed off, Knockout goaded him on: "Willing to _WHAT_?"

Ratchet stiffened up and turned back to the console. "Given the circumstances, you might not be willing to do... whatever it might take_._"

Knockout lowered his helm threateningly. "Oh, I see. So you expect me to just step aside and let you fragging Autobots _kill_ my partner?!"

"That was not what I said."

"But it's what you _meant_!"

"What I _meant _was that Breakdown could potentially be our adversary on this mission! If you were unwilling to engage him it could jeopardize the rescue!" Ratchet spun back around, meeting Knockout's gaze. "Our concern as Autobots is for Bulkhead's safety!"

"WELL _MINE_ IS FOR BREAKDOWN'S!"

"I knew it!" Knockout and Ratchet looked down at Miko. "I _knew_ this would happen!" She continued, pointing an accusing finger up at Knockout. "He's choosing Breakdown over us! I told you: he's _NOT_ an Autobot, and he never will be!"

Knockout glared down at the human, his servos clenched angrily, one of them around his staff. He opened his mouth, probably to yell at her, but then stopped. After a quiet moment, a smirk spread across his face, replacing the scowl.

"You know what?" He turned to Ratchet. "You're right."

Before he could react, Knockout had pulled back his staff and lunged it forward, digging the prongs into Ratchet's neck cables and releasing a debilitating shock!

"_BRRRZEEEEEEP!_"

Knockout glanced back as Bumblebee sat up. The scout tore the cable from his chest and stood up, about to attack. Before he could, Knockout grabbed the offlined Ratchet as he fell and spun around, hurling the medic at Bumblebee. They collided with a powerful _CLANG_ and Bumblebee fell back onto the medical table with Ratchet on top of him. He struggled in vain to lift Ratchet off him, but he was still too low on energy to manage it.

Knockout watched the struggling scout for a moment as he beeped and whirred angrily, but then turned to the groundbridge controls. "I bet _this _is against your precious Autobot Code, isn't it?" He said, typing in the coordinates from the map. Once he'd finished, he pulled the lever, powering on the groundbridge. As he stepped towards the portal he glanced back again. "Well, sorry. But I've lost Breakdown once... I'm not about to let it happen a second time."

With that, he ran through the groundbridge and disappeared.

After a minute, the bridge powered down automatically. Once it had, Raf glanced out from behind Ratchet's scanner where he'd been hiding. "Is he gone...?" He mumbled, looking up at Bee.

He let out an irritated whirr to confirm, and Raf jumped up and ran over to try and help him up. They both started pushing Ratchet, trying to make the medic slide off but they were hardly even able to budge him.

"Miko!" Raf called as he pushed, "Give us a hand up here!"

There was no response.

"Miko?" Raf stopped and looked over to the floor by the main console where Miko had been standing before. There was no sign of the girl. "MIKO?! Where did-?" he stopped mid sentence as it dawned on him and he looked over at the groundbridge. "Oh... Oh _no._"


	8. Chapter 8

**Weh. This took way too long. Sorry, but writing Miko as not a total brat was hard and took me awhile.**

* * *

This was a big risk. A big _stupid _risk, really.

Even more so because he was doing it because of information from an energon-starved scout... one who couldn't even properly remember what had happened to him. What was more, Knockout already knew Breakdown wasn't alive. He had died months ago. He'd felt it in his spark when it happened. And a spark didn't pop back online just like that...

But they never did find a body. And if there was even the tiniest chance, he wasn't about to let the Autobots snatch it away from him.

And clearly they would have. So as Knockout stepped through the groundbridge, he wasn't worrying about how Prime and his 'Bots would react to his actions. The only thing on his mind was finding Breakdown... and if he got to squash a few of those repulsive MECH humans along the way, well that was just icing on the cake.

He came out of the bridge in a sparse, rocky forest. A short incline in front of him led down to a wide but ill-maintained dirt road. In fact it looked entirely deserted. Seemed appropriate they would be coming this way. This MECH group was apparently well versed in staying off the radar of their fellow humans.

Knockout took a few steps towards the road, looking up and down it for the convoy he knew would be coming. As he did, he began running various tactics through his processor. If he just barreled in there and started taking out MECH agents what would Breakdown do? He wouldn't actually _fight_ Knockout for their sake, would he? Although, maybe it would be better to confront Breakdown first rather than immediately start a fight. If they could just talk then surely he could convince Breakdown to come away with him.

Once they were together again... well, it would be just like it used to be; before Starscream had called them back to the ship. Traveling the back roads of the planet in secret, scouting for energon, scaring the scrap out of some wayward humans for a kick. Except this time they wouldn't be with the 'Cons... or the 'Bots for that matter. But they'd be _together_... As he was filling his mind with all these grand ideas and getting his hopes up, he heard a quiet clattering behind him and a small voice:

"Aw scrap!"

Shocked out of his daydream, Knockout spun around to see a few tiny rocks rolling down the hillside and tumbling to a stop just in front of his pedes. His optics traced back up the hill and stopped when he spotted Miko. The girl was sitting on her butt where she'd fallen from dislodging the rocks.

For a moment Knockout didn't react. He couldn't possibly be seeing correctly. Had this annoying pink headed human seriously followed him through the groundbridge? What was she thinking?

Miko scrambled to her feet and took a few steps back, "What're you looking at?!" she shouted. She seemed to be trying to act tough, but Knockout could hear the worry in her voice. After another moment passed where he remained quiet, a smirk finally crossed Knockout's face and he started up the incline towards her.

"I think I'm looking at a very small, very _squishy_ organic who's been riding my tailpipe for over a week. But you know what I'm _not_ looking at?" he began, then paused to take a dramatic glance around. "Any Autobots to stop me from stepping on her like the pest she is."

"No! Wait DON'T!"

Knockout stopped just in front of the human and glared down at her, "Oh, are you going to beg now? That's adorable." He leaned forward over her and lightly pushed her down with one of his digits. "Well go on, then. I'll listen."

Miko shuffled away a bit but then quickly regained her footing. She stiffened her back, staring up at Knockout. "I'm..." she started, her voice wavering slightly. She paused and collected herself, then continued in a stronger voice, "...I'm not going to beg." Knockout tilted his helm slightly as she continued. "I don't care what happens to me, but if I get squished then... then nobody is going to help Bulkhead."

"Ahh so that's why you're here." Knockout grinned, "You think you've really got a chance out here on the battlefield? Hmmph. I didn't realize you were _that_ stupid."

"I have to try!" Miko clenched her fists, continuing to glare defiantly at Knockout. "I know you're only interested in saving your own partner. So I had to come along to save _mine_."

Knockout continued to stare down at her for another moment, wondering what to do with her. Though when he really considered the situation, the Autobots would not take kindly to having one of their humans mashed into a pulp, no matter how annoying she was. So if he _did _actually go through with it he imagined there might be some payback coming his way... And she was only there because she wanted to look out for her partner. He hated to admit it, but he could sympathize with that sentiment. It was why _he_ was there, after all...

Before he could definitely decide what to do, the rumbling of engines distracted him. He quickly turned his helm back towards the road. They weren't visible yet, but clearly MECH's convoy was close and getting closer.

If he wanted to he certainly could squish the girl before they arrived, but if she screamed she'd give away his location. So if the Autobots and the sentiment weren't persuasion enough that certainly seemed to be. And why go through the trouble? If everything went as planned he'd never see her again anyway!

He gave a short glance down at Miko, then turned away. "Alright, then. I'll let you go _this_ time, human. Just make sure you stay out of my way!" Knockout moved alongside the slope and took up a hiding place behind an outcropping of rocks.

He was able to see a short dust cloud starting to kick up in the distance. They were really close now.

Meanwhile, Miko crawled up onto the rocks and stood glaring at the dust cloud along with him. "Yeah, well... you stay out of _my _way!" she grumbled, then shot an angry glare at Knockout. "And don't you dare lay a finger on Bulkhead!"

Knockout returned the glare. "As if I'd care enough to bother with that brute." then he reached over and pushed Miko with his servo, just enough to get her to fall onto her back. "And stay low, would you?! They'd see that hideous color palate of yours a mile away."

Miko growled, but didn't respond. She only rolled over onto her stomach and crawled forward a bit so as to get a better view over the rocks.

After a very long minute the rumbling of engines was finally accompanied by a visible cloud of dust over the ridge and then the trucks came around the bend. Three covered flatbed trucks with cars armed with missile launchers and turrets bringing up the front and rear of the convoy. Knockout's optics darted to each of the armed vehicles in confusion as they came- these were all jeeps. None of them were Breakdown. After the last one rolled into view he waited, staring down the road hoping more would show- hoping that there would be another chance for Breakdown to show... but that was it.

The convoy passed their hiding place with Knockout still glaring at the corner of rocks they had come around. Miko looked from Knockout to the convoy and back.

"Well?!" she whispered urgently, "are you gonna do something or not?"

Knockout turned quickly to look back at the jeeps. They were starting to pull away from them now... scrap. So Breakdown wasn't with them. This all might have been for nothing... No, that wasn't something he wanted to think about now. It was too late to go back, anyway... Ignoring the dread creeping up in the back of his mind, Knockout stood up fully and planted a pede on the rocks in front of him.

After a shooting a quick glare down at Miko, as if to just enforce the 'stay out of my way' part of their little deal, he pushed off the rocks and jumped down the hillside, transforming into his vehicle mode.

He landed on the slope and turned sharply, fish-tailing onto the dirt road, and then slammed on his accelerator to catch up to the convoy.

The resulting skid and loud roar of his engines wasn't exactly subtle, and the occupants of the last vehicle noticed him immediately. One of the agents in the jeep leapt up and sat himself behind the turret mounted on top. But for someone as fast as Knockout, their wanton spray of bullets was easy to dodge with a little swerving, and even the odd few that managed to strike him were hardly a deterrent.

Knockout caught up to the vehicle and transformed to his robot mode, bringing a pede down hard on the back of the jeep effectively crushing it and blowing out the rear tires. Then he drew back his other leg and punted the turret clean off the top of the jeep! Luckily for the gunman, he had managed to scramble off and out of the way just in time.

The rest of the convoy was still pulling away, so rather than waste time with the humans themselves, Knockout jumped over the disabled vehicle and transformed back to his car mode to keep up the chase. The others had realized the danger as well. The trucks started speeding up to try and get away, while the armed jeeps pulled to the side and slowed to face off with Knockout, aiming their guns at the oncoming sports car.

He was obviously out-gunned, so rather than try to go through them, Knockout swerved back to his right and kept driving high up the side of the rocky hill to try and get around them. As he zoomed past, the jeeps opened fire. Bullets pelted the side of Knockout's frame, but it was merely irritating- not painful. The MECH agents realized this too, apparently, because the bullets stopped rather quickly.

Knockout thought for a moment why they would give up so easily, but then noticed they were arming their missile launchers. As the first missile was fired, Knockout swerved back to the left and onto the road, now driving in front of the jeeps. The missile struck the rocky wall instead and an avalanche of dirt and rocks came pouring down the hillside!

The MECH jeeps slammed on their brakes to avoid being crushed, but before they could stop two of them were swept up in the rockslide and went tumbling off the road! The remaining jeeps were trapped behind the resulting pile of rocks in their path. Knockout watched the jeeps with some smug satisfaction, but then turned his attention up to the three trucks ahead of him.

Knockout drove up the side of the hill again and zoomed forward, passing the three trucks. Then he came back on to the road, swerving around and transforming in one graceful motion. The first truck slammed on its brakes so as not to collide with him. It didn't do much good; once he skidded to a stop the other two trucks slammed right into him from behind!

The truck had stopped not a few yards from where Knockout stood, so he took the last few steps up to the cabin. The driver was rubbing his neck from the impact and a second agent next to him had picked up what seemed to be a radio or communicator and was speaking into it urgently.

"Calling for backup?" Knockout slammed his pede down on the front of the truck. "Good! I can't wait for more of you to show up so I can-"

He was suddenly interrupted as the driver leapt from the vehicle and took aim at him with a large weapon. Knockout just managed to sidestep and watched as the canister he'd fired stuck to the rocky slope behind him, releasing its electric discharge with a few sparks.

Knockout spun back around and glared at the human. "Oh, so you like electricity, huh?" He unclipped his staff from his side and extended it, pointing towards the human. "Well, you're not the only one," He continued as it crackled to life menacingly.

The agent dropped his cannon and turned to flee. Knockout took a few steps after him, but then noticed two other agents had gotten out of their trucks and started taking aim at him as well. He swung his staff up and managed to deflect the first canister. The second... well, the second didn't come. The MECH agent tried firing but seemed to be having some technical difficulties. Knockout sneered down at the human as he fiddled with his cannon.

Rather than wait for him to fix his weapon, Knockout stepped alongside the truck's cabin and firmly planted a pede on its side. With a powerful kick, he pushed the truck over onto its side and right onto the distracted agent.

Although the resulting scream was rather loud, there was another sound accompanying it. Knockout looked back to the flatbed that had also tipped over- there had been a noticeable groan when it had gone over. He looked around for the rest of the MECH agents and saw they were fleeing back down the road to where the jeeps were trapped... he might as well take a look. Though he already had a good idea.

Grabbing ahold of the tarp covering and yanking it back, he was not at all surprised to see the massive frame of Bulkhead strapped down quite securely to the truck's trailer. He wasn't quite conscious yet, but he seemed to be starting to stir. To help him along, Knockout grabbed beneath the Autobot's jaw and gave him a good shake while shouting, "Hey! Wake up you big oaf!"

Bulkhead let out another low groan and his optics slowly opened. "Uggh... what?" He blinked once or twice before he noticed the red mech standing over him. "Knockout?! Ohh thank Primus you guys found me before-"

"Yeah, don't thank him just yet." Knockout tightened his grip. "So tell me, is it true? Did you see _Breakdown_?"

Bulkhead's optics widened even further. "Wha- Oh scrap no! No, Knockout it's not what you think! I mean, it _was_ Breakdown but he's-"

"HEY!"

When he heard the familiar voice Bulkhead snapped his helm around to see, pulling his helm out of Knockout's grip. "MIKO?!"

The girl was skidding down the side of the hill towards them, glaring fiercely at Knockout. She reached the bottom and jogged up to the two of them, looking a bit haggard from running so far. "You... don't you... lay a hand on Bulkhead!" she gasped. She had one arm pointed up at Knockout, though the rest of her body was bent over as she tried to catch her breath.

Bulkhead's optics darted from Miko to Knockout and back again. "What are you- WHAT IS _SHE_ DOING HERE?!" he screamed finally. "What the FRAG is going on? What have you done?!"

"Don't change the subject!" Knockout shouted back, "What were you saying? Breakdown is _what? _And where-?"

Knockout stopped suddenly as the sound of a distant, rumbling engine met his audio receptors. He spun back around to look up the road, and sure enough, coming around a curve up ahead was a dark blue armored car! Ignoring the shouts from Bulkhead to stay back, Knockout hurried forward past the disabled trucks. He might have run all the way up to meet Breakdown, but he stopped when he saw two Vehicons came around the curve following after him.

Meanwhile, Miko had started struggling to get Bulkhead loose. "Don't worry, Bulk," she grumbled, trying to unhook the massive straps holding him down, "I'll get you outta this thing!"

"No Miko you've gotta go! It's not safe-" Bulkhead tried to protest but Miko continued about trying to free him. He struggled to look back where Knockout had gone to up the road and shouted, "Please, Knockout! You've gotta get Miko outta here!"

Knockout wasn't listening, though. He was staring at the three cars quickly approaching him. In one hand he was still clutching his staff tightly, very earnestly hoping he wouldn't have to use it... but the Vehicons... What were they doing here? This didn't bode well... As if this situation weren't weird enough already.

After what seemed like ages, Breakdown stopped about fifty feet from Knockout. The Vehicons slowed to a stop behind him as well and all three of them transformed. Knockout took a cautious step forward, "Breakdown?" he offered, raising one servo. "Breakdown... it's me, Knockout. You... you _remember_ me, don't you?"

Breakdown stared at him for a moment quite blankly. Then he finally started forward again. Knockout kept his servo extended to him hopefully... Breakdown stopped just in front of Knockout and looked down at the servo. Then he looked up again, meeting Knockout's optics as he reached forward, taking ahold of Knockout's servo and interlacing their digits.

For a brief moment Knockout was elated. He relaxed the vice-like grip he'd had on his staff and allowed a smile to form on his face... maybe this would work out like he'd hoped after all.

Then he felt the grip on his servo tighten painfully! He cried out and tried to pull away, but he was being held fast. His optics darted back up, angrily looking for an explanation, only to see a nasty smirk plastered across Breakdown's face.

"But of course." came Silas' voice, "How could I forget _you_, Knockout?"

He only paused to enjoy the look of horror on Knockout's face for a second before he drew back his fist, swinging it forward with tremendous force and sending Knockout sprawling on to the road! Before he could even regain his composure from the blow, he suddenly found the charged end of his staff being shoved into his neck.

Once Knockout was offline, Silas lifted the staff away and stepped over him towards the trucks. Miko was still trying to free Bulkhead as he pleaded with her to run. As Silas approached the two of them looked up.

"Well, what have we here?" Silas began, glaring down at Miko, "Another of the Autobots' little friends?"

Miko finally stopped trying to release Bulkhead and began backing away.

"Leave the girl alone!" Bulkhead shouted. "She's got nothing to do with your sick experiments-"

"_I'll_ be the judge of that!" Silas interrupted Bulkhead, then jabbed his chassis with the end of Knockout's staff! Bulkhead shuddered for a moment as the shock ran through him, then went limp.

"NO! BULKHEAD!" Miko tried to run back up to the 'Bot but suddenly something caught her arm. She looked back to see the MECH agents had returned and two of them had her in their grasp.

"What should we do with her, sir?" one of the agents asked, looking up at Silas. "And the red robot-?"

Silas glanced back at Knockout, now being dragged over by the two Vehicons. "Bring them along," he said. "They both may be of some use yet." Then he grabbed ahold of the toppled truck and set it upright. "Now get this convoy back on track! If these two were able to locate us that means others might not be far behind. I don't want to lose any of this cargo!"

"HE IS NOT YOUR _CARGO! _HE'S MY FRIEND!" Miko screamed, struggling and kicking at the agents holding her. Her efforts were to no avail, however, and they began to drag her away. "NO! No, let go of me! BULKHEAD!"

Silas let out a quiet chuckle as he watched the agents tie her wrists and shove her into the cabin of one of the trucks while she squirmed. "I wouldn't be too concerned about your robot toy, little girl." he said, "You really should be worried about yourself."


End file.
